Singed
by banshee-hime
Summary: A young girl starts her first year at Hogwarts, while trying to get out of her father's shadow of fame and form her own reputation and persona, she meets our favorite mischievous twins and finds herself a bit overwhelmed. An idea in progress, I'm still experimenting, all input welcome FredxOC a bit AU updates irregular (chapters around 4k words)
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome everyone!**

**Okei, so a bit of info about this story? It begins in 1989, when Fred and George are first years, and will follow the timeline from there. While I am focusing on my OCs, I will try and explore the other characters as much as possible. I know that I can't hold a candle to J.K. Rowling's work, so I'm keeping my own style of writing to tell you this story. I will make it a little bit AU I suppose, but I will try and contain myself.**

**About the updates: Irregular. I will try and update as often as possible, but don't count on it being regular. Quality over quantity.**

**World: Book. I will try to stick to the books as much as possible. It's not that I didn't enjoy the movies (I own a DVD of each one in fact), but I simply prefer the books. Also, I will be using pottermore as a legitimate source of potions and spells. (If anyone wants to add me on pottermore, message me :D)**

**OCs: I'm a bit uncertain about my main female OC… I've been making her into a realistic character for at least three or four years, so I've been thinking for a long while… Please tell me if she is a Mary Sue in any way, I'm trying to keep that to a minimum…**

**My male OC? Well, he is a long-time dream of mine… I kinda thought him up when I started reading Harry Potter (when I was eleven xD) and he has been developing… I wasn't sure whether to put him in this fic or not, but decided to take a chance in the end.**

**Plot: It will be minimal, I'm focusing on exploring Hogwarts and characters, also the love story later.**

**Note: I'm writing this and switching POVs a lot, so a lot of things may seem confusing, as they are seen through my OCs eyes.**

**Now, I don't own Harry Potter in any way or form.**

**Enjoy the story!**

**The Runaways – Cherry Bomb (1976)**

"Are you sure you want it that short?"

"Yes, Pa. Just cut it right there, below the ears."

"But, that's too short, midget! All this long, beautiful hair! I won't be able to braid it if it's that short!" The man complained to the small girl, uncertainly holding the scissors in his hand.

"That's the point, Pa. I can't take care of my hair alone at school. I need you to cut it for me." The young girl fidgeted on the bar stool nervously, acting more mature than the man behind her. It ws only natural that she pretended to be grown up, despite understanding less 'big' words that she would like to admit. The young girl had grown up without many children around. Her friends had all been serious adults.

"But you won't be my little Rapunzel then!" The middle-aged man whined once again. Somehow, it seemed like their minds had been trapped in the wrong bodies by some unfortunate magical spell. Then again, it had always been that way. The man had become a father a bit too early for his liking. That didn't mean that he loved his little girl any less, just the opposite. He loved her the most, as she had allowed him to stay a child a bit longer than expected.

"I won't, Pa. I'll be your brave Jeanne D'Arc." The girl said, tilting her head to grin excitedly at her old man. He gave her an unsure smile right back, still not happy about her decision to cut all her beautiful hair off. It had grown all the way to her bum during the past year. It had been her pride and joy. It had been his pleasure, as he had learned how to braid it in various ways. But, he couldn't say no to his little girl. Especially if she was comparing herself to the infamous Gryffindor witch.

"You little spitfire." The man cooed, trying out the scissors in his hand. They made a sharp metallic swish and snap sound, causing the small girl to fidget once again. Despite acting mature, she was pretty fond of her hair. It was a special thing for her. She had her mother's hair, her father would say. His was darker and spikier. Somehow, he could never tame it. Hers, on the other hand, fell in soft, natural waves of auburn all the way down her back. When the light hit it at just the right angle, it gave off a reddish tint.

However, the middle-aged man obliged his daughter's request and started cutting the long, silky locks of hair. There was silence for a while between them, as the man allowed the strands to fall onto the floor soundlessly. The faint sound of rushing cars and an occasional train could be heard from outside. It was muffled by the closed doors and windows. Besides, there weren't many people out and about at this ungodly hour. The sun had barely peeked over the edge of the world, its first rays of warmth caressing the huddled houses of London.

A train passed, shaking the rented flat and causing the man to slip up in his work. "Bollocks!" He exclaimed loudly, causing his daughter to giggle, not really caring that her hair was partially uneven now. Her father had gotten much better during the years of practice. Now, he could actually style her hair a bit, rather than just chop it off.

"Jar, Pa. That's a swear." She reminded the man of their bet. He had promised to lessen his swearing, but, so far, it wasn't working out too well. The 'swear jar' had been filled at least three times with silver sickles and bronze knuts. Of course, the small girl had taken the money from her bet. She was going to use it to buy herself an owl, after all. They didn't have a family owl. And her father had never really bothered getting one. She would need it to send letters and packages to her Pa while she was at school. She couldn't wait to visit the Diagon Alley once again!

"All done, spitfire." Her father said, smiling at his handiwork. It wasn't as uneven as it had seemed to be in the beginning. He brushed the remaining strands from his daughter's shoulders and gave them a short squeeze in affection. The young girl jumped up as soon as he was done, twirling happily. It felt nice and strange to suddenly have almost no hair on her head.

"How does it look?" The girl asked happily.

"Blimey! If I didn't know better, I'd say you were Pat Benatar!" The man exclaimed. The girl giggled, allowing her father's compliment to slide. She looked around the room, wincing at the strange sight of her own hair lying on the ground.

"Jar, Pa." She reminded her father and he laughed, obeying. "Two silver ones, you said the 'B' word, too." She excitedly jumped to the counter, grabbed the jar and opened it and held it out to her father. He grumbled, but took out his muggle wallet.

"Which 'B' word?" The man asked after tossing one sickle onto the pile. The look that he got from his daughter said enough. "Blimey, you mean? That's not a swear word." The man argued, closing his wallet and putting it back into his hind pocket. The girl frowned, moving the jar around and causing the money to jingle.

However, her father ignored the clanking of the metal coins, so she gave up, closing the jar and slipping it into her sky-blue robes. Knowing her father, she would have at least five more sickles when they arrived to the Leaky Cauldron. She ran to the wardrobe next and grabbed the old leather bag that was hanging on one of the round knobs excitedly. It had been her father's when he was at Hogwarts. She had packed her necessities for the short trip to Diagon Alley last night into it. And then she had checked them. About ten times.

"Ready, midget?" The man asked, his hat steady on his head. It looked strangely out of place on her father. She was so used to seeing him in his muggle clothing when he went around, blending in. Now, he was wearing long scarlet robes that accented his dark, almost black, unruly hair. His hat was pointy, tilted on one side, as if ready to fall off. His hair appeared to be battling with it for dominance on his scalp. The young girl giggled at the image in her head. "Here you go." Her father offered her a pot of green powder and she grabbed some in her little hand, attempting to not spill any. "Incendio." Her father murmured, setting the logs in the fireplace ablaze.

The young girl stepped forward, tossing the green powder into the fireplace. She waited for a second for the flames to change color before entering into the fire fearlessly. This wasn't her first time travelling by Floo. In fact, she was a rather skilled young thing, having gone at least ten times by herself through the complicated network of fireplaces.

"Diagon Alley!" The girl yelled out in her childlike tone and vanished from the fireplace with a loud bang. The last thing she saw before she closed her eyes to protect herself from ash was her father vanishing the chopped off hair from their rented flat's floor.

X

Diagon Alley was as lively as usual, despite the early hour of the morning. The colorful stores attracted many young and old witches and wizards who were looking to purchase their pets, supplies or books. People rushed about, pushing each other, pulling their children of various ages from one window to another, searching for all the necessary things for the school year.

The middle-aged man in scarlet robes and his young daughter in her sky-blue ones snaked through the crowd, heading towards the Gringotts Wizarding Bank. The tall, slightly ominous, building loomed over them as they approached and the young girl wriggled her small hand out of her father's larger one. He turned around immediately, looking worried. His little girl knew how he was about her letting go of his hand in crowded places.

"I don't want to go in there, Pa." The girl said. She was fidgeting with the hem of her cloak. The man gave a small sigh. Well, she always had had a problem with Gringotts. He should've predicted this.

"It's ok, midget. I just need to get us some money for the shopping." He straightened to his full height once again, looking around. He pointed to a shop across the street. "Why don't you go over there and get your new robes while you wait? And then we can pick everything else up and get some ice-cream?" He asked with a grin. Her father was always smiling. The little girl had never seen him angry or sad. He was always cheery.

She gave a happy nod and accepted his hand that ruffled her, now oddly short, hair. He straightened once again to his full height and headed towards the intimidating bank. The girl turned her back on it, running away quickly. She had never liked that building. It reminded her of some ancient creature, wise and powerful, ready to devour her at any moment. It somehow let out an aura, too. Like there was suffering deep inside it. And the small girl couldn't stand that feeling.

She pushed her way through the crowd slowly. She was rather short for her age and without her father, she could move only so many wizards. She had noticed how her father seemed to get the crowd to disperse before him. Hushed whispers followed them wherever they went. An occasional brave witch or wizard would stop her Pa to talk to him, ask for him to sign a photograph. It was all quite mysterious to her. She knew that her dad had been a great player of the famous Quidditch team the Ballycastle Bats. However, an injury had destroyed his career. Now, he was a coach for the same team.

The small girl knew her father's nickname from back in the day. The Scarlet Dragon of the Bats was quite famous, even now. The nickname had come from an unfortunate incident during a game, when the man in question had spit out fire after scoring a point, singeing the opposing Chaser. Turns out that mixing Firewhisky and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans can be quite flammable under certain circumstances (then again, the girl had always suspected that a little bit of magic had been involved, too). Back then, everyone thought that the man had performed some wandless magic while celebrating. Of course, it had become tradition. Now, everyone called him Dragon, even though he was retired.

The girl 'oof'-ed as a rather large wizard pushed her to the side. She accidently bumped into a redheaded boy who ignored her.

"Sorry." She politely apologized, but the boy was preoccupied.

"I dare you." Another child's voice came from the right and the girl saw one more redheaded boy. When she looked closer, they were identical. The same to their last freckle with two mischievous smiles on their bright, round faces. Troublemaking twins, she thought, how unoriginal.

"I will if you will." Said the one that she had bumped into. Now, she, too, was curious. What was this dare about? She pushed herself onto her toes and looked over the boy's shoulder. There it was, the frightening, dark, Knockturn Alley. The passage was narrow and seemed devoid of all sun, despite the clear and bright morning. There was witch in tattered robes a little ways inside. She was leaning against the wall, her matted brown hair unkempt hanging across her shoulders. The girl couldn't see her face because of the large, old hat on her head, but she was willing to bet that the woman didn't have kind face. Wrinkling her nose at the thought of running in there and passing that woman the young girl backed away from the bickering twins.

"Alright, then, Forge." Said the one to the right. "On three-"

"We both go, Gred." Finished the left one.

"One."

"Two."

"Thr-" They chorused in perfect sync. The girl was a bit amazed, despite the degree of wrongness in their actions. Thankfully, they were interrupted before they could enter the ominous alley.

"Fred! George!" A short, plump, redheaded woman with a kind face (that seemed rather scary back then) yelled loudly making the twins cringe. "What do you think that you were thinking?!" She yelled, grabbing an ear in each of her hands. The twins yelped in pain simultaneously and started making excuses through her yells.

The girl smiled to herself and left the scene, committing the memory to her mind. She was a bit envious of the twins. Now only did they have a loving mother, but they weren't alone. They had each other. She had wished for a twin at times. At least a sibling. Someone to play with. Someone to confide in. But, she knew that she would never have that, so she had given up. Now, she was making the best of what she got. Her father was a wonderful man and her best friend. She could tell him anything. She trusted him with her life.

With a smile on her face, the girl pushed the door to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions open. The shop was well-lit with various materials hanging left and right. The small girl shuffled forward, her sky-blue robe rustling against the polished floor.

"Welcome, dear!" Madam Malkin was a short woman with a stern, but kind face. Her smile was wide, welcoming. She grabbed the young girl's shoulders and pushed her towards the end of the room where a boy was standing in front of a large, full-body mirror. He looked a bit unsteady on the stool, but he was holding his head high, trying to look as noble as possible. The girl wrinkled her nose at the air of mightiness and general superiority that the boy was giving off, but she pushed it down. It wasn't polite to judge. She hadn't even met the lad.

"A set of Hogwarts robes, my dear? First year, no?" Madam Malkin waved her wand in a smooth and swift motion, making thousands of pins move on their own, puncturing measurements into the fabric that lay over the boy's shoulders. The small girl nodded as she watched, wide-eyed the skill and speed of them. True, she came from a magical family, but her father had always been adamant on teaching her how to survive in the muggle world. She was well-informed of the magical world, just hadn't had a lot of practice in it. Who knew? Maybe it was for the best. She valued her multicultural knowledge.

"You're next, dear. Let me go get some more fabric." Madam Malkin left the room in a hurry, her beautiful, layered robes swishing behind her. The boy turned to her, giving her a full view of his sky blue eyes. They matched her robe perfectly. He seemed a bit nervous to her, despite his arrogant aura. The girl gave a small, gentle smile to him. He was rather handsome in her opinion. More on the pretty side than on the rugged, boyish appealing one.

"Are you starting Hogwarts, too?" She asked, her voice gentle. The boy raised his head in a certain angle that made his neck look longer, more noble.

"Indeed." The boy's voice was deep, calm, despite his young age and fidgety demeanor. His eyes went over the girl carefully, analyzing her. They weren't unkind, though. Curious and calculating, but never cold.

"Me too." The girl's grin grew. It was a boy. A boy her age. One that would be going with her to school. "Do you want to be my friend?" She asked next, just like her characters in the books did, extending a hand to him. The boy stood there, baffled for a couple of seconds, his façade broken.

"You have not even properly introduced yourself to me." He frowned then, one delicate brow rising. The girl's grin didn't falter. It got even wider, if that was possible.

"I'm Jack." She said, grabbing his hand now and shaking it, like all the adults did. He stared in disbelief.

"That's a boy's name."

"So what?" She shrugged, still shaking his hand. "I like it."

"I'm Dmitry." The boy finally spoke. The girl looked him over. With his shiny black hair he didn't look one bit Russian to her. Then again, the blue eyes and the pale skin fit quite nicely with her image of someone from the Northern country.

"How come you're going to Hogwarts? Wouldn't Drumstrang be closer?" Wondered Jack, still shaking the poor boy's hand. The pins were flying all around them, taking measures of the Russian.

He tilted his head a bit to the side, thinking. Jack noticed how his noble demeanor had changed. He had let go of his confident and arrogant façade. He seemed so much more like an eleven year old child now. "Mother decided that I should attend Hogwarts rather than Drumstrang. She deemed that it gave better quality education." The words were a bit clumsy, and way too big for him. But, it seemed alright to Jack. She could tell that Dmitry had been raised in a strict, noble home, probably pureblood, too.

"Here we are, dear. Let's get you fitted!" Madam Malkin returned to the room, her perfume filling it once more. At the sound of her voice, to two jumped away from each other, letting go of their long handshake. The pins stopped moving, waiting for the next task. The boy shed his cloak-in-the-making, stepping down from the stool. Dmitry offered his hand to Jack, gentlemanly helping her onto the stool. Madam Malkin gave a small smile and draped the dark material on the girl's shoulders, letting it swallow her. The pins started moving once again at the wave of her wand.

"I'll see you at school, Miti!" Jack turned to yell after her new friend. He turned around, just enough for her to see the crimson blush on his cheeks. He tipped the hat that he had put back onto his head and exited the store with a melodic jingle of the bell. Madam Malkin kept humming as she worked.

X

"Definitely an Antipodean Opaleye!" Jack exclaimed as she pulled her father's hand from time to time for attention. She was used to him being glued to anything that had 'Quidditch' on it. Unfortunately for her, Diagon Alley was like a candy store to her father. "You should've seen him! Oh, Pa! His eyes matched my robes perfectly! And you know that I had looked for this material for ages, to match the Opaleye, of course. Pa? Sheesh!" Jack gave up, allowing her father to gawk at the new model of Nimbus. He was such a Quidditch geek. With a laugh and a shake of her head (she was still getting used to her short hair), Jack let go of her father's hand once again and headed towards the Eeylop's Owl Emporium.

"Opaleye, hm? That's the most beautiful one, isn't it?" Her father caught up, draping one hand over Jack's shoulders. She smiled up at him. She had known that he would follow.

"Well, you can't say that one dragon is the most beautiful, but, the Opaleye definitely makes my list of the prettiest dragons." She told him in her 'grown-up-and-teaching' voice. The man didn't dare counter her. His little daughter knew the Dragon Encyclopedia by heart. He was used to her comparing people to different species and explaining why she thought that they were similar. He, himself, had already been identified as a Hungarian Horntail. In his daughter's opinion, he was fast, dangerous and deceptive, just like the dragon in question. He supposed that that had something to do with her being ticklish and him always catching her, but, he wasn't going to ruin her fantasies. He rather liked the comparison, too.

"Do you like this boy, midget?" The small girl gave a huff and a look of disbelief. He laughed, enjoying the small blush on her cheeks. It was his fault. He could've picked a job that would've allowed his daughter to go to a muggle school, have friends and grow up normally. Instead, he had pursued his dream, providing the best he could for her, and she had been grateful. He really had been given a small angel.

"Don't be silly, Pa. I just met Miti." Jack frowned, making her steps awkwardly large in an attempt to keep up with her father's huge ones. "When I get to know him I might fall in love with him. And then we will get married and go live in Russia and have ten children." The child said seriously and continued on, leaving her father with his jaw on the floor. His little girl couldn't get married yet!

"So, you said something about some twins, too?" The Scarlet Dragon attempted to stir their conversation onto a safer topic. The girl grinned and pushed the door of the owl shop open. It was dark and slightly damp inside, the scent of the birds strong in the air. Jack wrinkled her nose.

"They are some subspecies of Wyverns. I don't know yet." She wandered around the shop, looking at the sleeping or grumpy owls. They mostly ignored her or shuffled away. "If they are at Hogwarts, I'll talk to them and tell you." She nodded to herself finally standing in front of one owl. It wasn't sleeping or grumpily looking at her. It was glaring. With a loud screech the owl opened up its wings, showing their impressive span of at least a meter. It was huge compared to the other owls in the Emporium and it seemed much angrier than the rest, which looked bored. Jack stood for a moment, unflinching, but a bit surprised by the aggressiveness of the animal.

"Bloody Hell!" Her father exclaimed, pulling her back and away from the owl and tucking her into his arm, as if to shield her from the bird. The owl folded its wings, but it was still overly fluffed out, warning them to stay away. Jack couldn't tear her eyes away from the magnificent bird. It resembled a cat to a certain degree, with its large eyes and horn-like ears. It was brown, with some white and black, blending into the darkness of the store nicely. She liked it, Jack decided.

"Hello! Hello!" The store owner came from the back, whisper-yelling, trying not to disturb the owls. "Welcome! Welcome!" He repeated once again. "Looking for an owl, I presume? You've come to the perfect place! All the owls here are for sale, Sir, Miss!" He smiled at them as Jack's father nodded. The girl was still staring at the temperamental owl. "This way! This way!" The man repeated and Jack decided that she didn't like him. He kept repeating his words, as if they were stupid. He was also rubbing his bite-ridden hands, like he was waiting for the money to be handed over. It unnerved her. A man like this shouldn't be working with animals. Owls especially.

"We have many owls here, Sir, Miss!" The plump vendor in the purple robe led them further down the rows of slowly awakening owls. "We have Barn, Brown, Screech, Snowy and Tawny owls. If I may ask the purpose of your purchase, Sir, Miss?" The man didn't stop talking. He got a bit confused when the small girl with a boyish haircut took a jar of coins out of her robes, eyeing him carefully and shook it at her father. The man sighed and dropped a sickle from his wallet into the jar. The girl smiled, content, and put the container away. She then looked up at the vendor with her strangely wise, grey eyes.

"Which is that one?" She asked, pointing to the large temperamental owl that was cleaning its feathers now. The vendor gasped and her father spluttered.

"Surely you can find a tamer one, midget?"

"That one is a special case, Miss. I'm afraid I can't sell it. I can't."

Jack frowned. "I want that one." She was adamant. The vendor's face was going a bit red now. Her father smiled nervously, attempting to diffuse the situation.

"Let's look at the other ones, midget?" He offered, hoping that she was going to be willing to compromise. His daughter was nice and noble and kind, but she was one bloody stubborn child. He had to admit that she had a certain talent with animals, especially those that had been given up on by their former owners. But it was one thing to take in an abandoned litter of kittens and another to buy a dangerous owl that was almost as big as his daughter. However, Jack nodded, allowing her father to breathe. There was still hope.

"Here we have the Barn owls." The vendor led them to a section where a dozen or so beautiful owls sat on their branches, sleeping or watching the newcomers. They each had a white heart shaped face and their feathers were different shades of soft and dark browns. To Jack, they seemed pretty, but also somehow confused. She walked from one another, but none of them acknowledged her presence. They were all watching the vendor that was rambling to her father about the properties of this species.

Jack extended her hand towards one of the larger owls and tried to pet it. It hooted at her and moved towards her hand. Pretty soon, the pale brown bird was nestled on her shoulder comfortably, enjoying the way her small fingers went through its feathers. Owls were rather adorable, Jack decided. But, she would always prefer the more dangerous and much more ferocious avian creatures (dragons were her passion from a young age).

"Do you like that one, midget?" Her father asked, bending to pet the owl. She smiled at him softly.

"Yes." Jack nodded. "But I like that one more." She told him, pointing at the grumpy owl in the corner that was preparing to sleep. Her father laughed then, ruffling her short hair. His semi-loud laugh caused the owls to hoot in displeasure. The middle-aged man ignored the birds. He had never been good with animals. He turned to the vendor instead. It had been clear that the old shopkeeper had recognized the former Quidditch star upon their arrival. He was waiting for Dragon to spill his money.

"Tell me more about that big one." Dragon pointed at the owl that was now glaring at them for talking, tucked in and ready for its nap. The vendor changed colors again.

"Sir, Miss, that is a very temperamental owl! I promise! We don't sell that species in this store! Never! Never! It would simply be irresponsible for me to sell that one to you!" The vendor argued.

"But, you said that every owl here is for sale, sir." Jack tilted her head, forcing her stare to be child-like and tear filled. She knew her puppy eyes well. She had been collecting money for this owl. She was going to get the one that she wanted.

The vendor sighed suddenly, as if giving in. "That is a Great horned owl. They are native to America." The plump man explained, massaging his temples in defeat. He finally looked genuine, thought Jack. "Frankly, it has been causing me a lot of trouble. It has a specific diet and it doesn't get along with other owls at all. It doesn't like people and, if I'm being honest, I doubt that it can carry mail." Explained the man. "However, the traveler that sold it to me had been adamant that the owl was great once it selected a master. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened. I will probably send the damned bird back to the States soon. Not worth it. Not worth it." The vendor shook his head.

Jack smiled. "You don't understand that bird at all, do you, Mister?" The young girl placed the Barn owl back and walked to the Great horned one. It regarded her approach with watchful yellow eyes, assessing the threat. Jack extended her hand, slowly, carefully. She stopped a little over half way and waited. The owl didn't move. It simply glared.

"See, Miss?" The vendor spoke. "It's untamable." He shrugged, giving up. Dragon, however, was watching like a hawk, his hand gripping the wand in his robes.

"But I don't want to tame it." Said Jack, frowning a bit. The owl's ear moved, as if it was listening. "I just want to give it a better life." The girl said, smiling once again. A loud screech sounded as the owl once again opened its magnificent wings. It flapped a couple of times and launched itself up. The chain on its claw jingled in protest, limiting its flight. Dragon had his wand out, now, a 'stupefy' on his tongue. The vendor was trembling, hoping that the girl wouldn't be hurt in this silly quest.

But, instead of maiming the small witch, the huge owl's claws landed on the outstretched arm, digging in uncomfortably. Jack winced, but didn't otherwise show any sign of pain. The owl sat there, waiting.

"Isn't that much better?" Asked Jack. The great owl hooted in response. "I know." Jack replied. The vendor watched in disbelief as the young girl proceeded to converse with the monstrous owl, as if she was holding a pet hamster.

"You get used to it." Said Dragon, tapping the vendor's shoulder in comfort. "How much for the bird?"

**That's all folks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome, ladies and gents!**

**Thank you MerelyMai for the follow, I hope you enjoy the story :)**

**Guns N' Roses – Paradise City (1987 & 1988)**

Jack sat on her tall stool outside, pushing her ice-cream around the bowl. The caramel had melted partially and was now mixing with the vanilla. A grumpy hoot caught her attention and she looked up at her new owl. The monstrous creature was sitting in its too-small cage, glaring at everyone and everything. Jack understood it, though. She, too, wouldn't be happy if she were in a tiny cage. The bird looked positively comical, all fluffed up in the small space, trying to look threatening. The small girl smiled and searched through her pockets for the owl treat that the vendor had given them. Her hand knocked against the, now empty, swear jar in her search. She had finally spent that money on the thing she wanted.

"Here you go." Jack said, offering the piece of meat to the owl. "We'll get you a larger cage soon, I promise." She told the grumpy owl. The bird's beak barely missed her small fingers as it tore the meat out of them. "And at Hogwarts, you won't need a cage." The owl widened one eye and closed the other, as if raising its eyebrow. "Yes." Jack nodded to it. "At Hogwarts, owls are allowed to fly wherever they want." She put some ice-cream into her mouth. "Pa told me that they have a giant Owlery on top of one of the towers, where you can eat and sleep with the other birds." The bird almost grumbled, making Jack laugh.

"I'm starting to regret allowing you to get that monster." The bird hooted in protest as Dragon dropped back into his seat with a crooked smile on his face. Jack rolled her eyes as her father waved at a group of, clearly younger, witches, making them giggle and swoon. She looked to her father and inspected him.

Well, he was rather handsome. Years of Quidditch had given him strong muscles that showed, even though he had let go of his career. His almost black hair was untamable on his head, pushing his traditional wizard's hat slightly to the side with its gravity defying roots. There was a small scar on his strong jaw from when he had fallen off of his broom. Her father had silvery-blue eyes, like hers. Except, his always glistened with mischievousness and happiness, unlike hers. Hers were of a different shape, big and round, unlike his slightly slanted ones, and they were always wide in unusual wisdom and curiosity. Her father had broad shoulders and he was tall, he towered over her wherever they went. Yes, he was rather handsome.

"Don't worry, Pa." Jack smiled at the man. "You're still my favorite man in the world." She leaned into her father, accepting a one armed hug. The armrest of the wooden chair dug into her side uncomfortably, but she ignored it. Still smiling, Jack pulled away once Dragon let go of her.

"Do we need to get anything else, midget? Where's your list?" The man spoke, looking through his robe pockets.

"Here." Jack said, passing him the piece of parchment elegantly. She looked at the giant owl again. "More importantly, we need to think of a name for you!" The owl hooted. "Yes, you are a part of the family, now. You need to have a great name!" The small girl beamed as she thought for a while, scrunching her nose in concentration. Her father smiled over the edge of her shopping list gently, almost longingly. He often smiled like that when the little girl wasn't looking. It was when his daughter concentrated like that, scrunching her nose so adorably, that she looked like her mother. Also, whenever she was thinking about something, something that went into the extreme like or dislike, she would do that, just like her. He quickly wiped that smile off his face and replaced it with his usual crooked grin when his daughter glanced at him.

"I know! Humber!" Jack turned to the owl next. It was looking at her with a doubtful eye, as if saying 'Really, woman? Can't you do any better?'. Jack frowned. "It's a good name! It's the name of a legendary king of Huns! He invaded Britain around 1000BC. That's an honorable name!" The small girl argued. The bird fluffed its feathers.

"I think it's saying no." Dragon translated, tilting his head in wonder. His child truly had a way with animals. "How do you even know it's a he?" Jack rolled her eyes.

"Alright then… How about Jabberwock? That's the main creature in a poem by Luis Carroll from 1872?" Dragon frowned at all the delightfully terrible names his daughter was proposing. She had a certain love for horror and danger that he couldn't explain. He hoped that it was a phase and that she wouldn't end up in Slytherin because of it. The bird turned around, showing its new owners its lovely tail. Dragon laughed, causing some of the witches nearby to giggle and point at him.

"I don't think he's very fond of that one either." The wizard told his daughter. "Why don't you try a more subtle name? This is not a dragon that you're naming, midget." The man ruffled his daughter's hair and then proceeded to steal some of her, already melted, ice-cream.

"Maybe Smaug then? That's the famous dragon from J.R.R. Tolkien's book The Hobbit. It was published in 1973." Jack tried once again. "He is a terrible terror and has his own mountain, you see. All filled to the brim with gold and jewels! Nobody can touch him!" The owl turned around, curious. It clicked its beak, but didn't hoot in approval. "Hmmm… A dragon's name then?" The owl hooted. "A famous dragon?" Her father watched in amusement. His little girl really was obsessed with the reptilian creatures. He didn't doubt that she knew each and every story, muggle or wizard, about them. He supposed that his own nickname had played a great part in her fascination.

"I have a perfect one!" Jack suddenly exclaimed, excitedly moving forward, her elbows on the table and her nose almost inside the bird's cage. "Aitvaras." Her voice was calm, eyes glinting in excitement. The bird hooted. "Not too impressive, I know, but listen! That is the name of a Lithuanian household spirit. It appears in the form of a dragon. It brings its master stolen goods, such as coins, corn, and milk." The owl hooted, interested. Dragon smiled at his daughter's antics once again, eating her caramel ice-cream shamelessly now. "Aitvaras can be obtained from the Devil, in exchange for one's soul." The owl hooted loudly. "Awesome, I know." Dragon shook his head. "But, it can also be found, brooded from the eggs of a nine to fifteen year old cock." Jack paused to catch her breath loudly, causing her father to chuckle. He was going to miss his little spitfire. "I know that you don't really bring bad or good luck, but you do carry items, not stolen, of course. And you are like a mighty dragon when you're flying, no?" The bird hooted at the compliment, agreeing. "It's settled then!" The small witch declared. "From today on, I name you Aitvaras! Aras for short!"

The owl screeched happily, shuffling its wings left and right. Dragon laughed once more. "We still have to get your wand, midget. Let's go." The man stood, picking up their bags and packages. Jack jumped up and grabbed the owl cage. Aras hooted when she moved him. Jack gave him reassuring smile and he simmered down.

"Olivander's then?" Asked the small witch. Her father gave a small nod and they were off.

X

"Ready, midget?" Her father called out from the living room. Jack dropped her brush and ran out of her room. She returned a second later to grab the old leather bag from her bed and then ran out once again. Panting, the small witch reached her father. Surprisingly, he was wearing muggle clothing. His jeans were modern, in the 80s theme, and his red converse looked comfortable enough. Jack smiled at the T-shirt that donned her parent's torso. It was black with a red bat on it. She started at it for a while and it finally flapped its wide wings.

Jack giggled. "Poor disguise, Pa." Dragon ruffled her hair.

"You're telling me, midget." She was wearing her Hogwarts robes, excited. "Get changed, spitfire. We are going into the muggle crowd today." The girl frowned, but she dropped her bag and left for her room. The huge horned owl hooted in protest. "Don't hoot at me." Dragon complained. "She's the one risking exposure with those. I like my job, alright?" The owl hooted right back, shuffling in its cage and fluffing out its feathers threateningly.

"Better?" Jack had folded her robes neatly and was now wearing a simple red and yellow dress. She had defiantly left her Hogwarts socks and shoes on. This was as good as it was going to get, thought Dragon.

"Perfect." He told her smiling down at her. "Stand there." He pushed her in front of her trunk and owl. Jack stood for a moment confused, but then she realized.

"Oh, Gods! Pa, no!" But it was too late. A flash of light later, her father placed the camera onto the table once again and went over to his grumbling daughter. He hugged her, even though she was frowning and threatening bodily harm.

"Oh, the sweet memories!" Said Dragon, causing his daughter to wriggle away from him. He laughed boomingly at her red and pouting face. She was going to Hogwarts. His little girl was going to Hogwarts. To his former school. Oh, how she was going to beautifully develop under the guidance of Albus Dumbledore. With a sad smile on his face, Dragon watched his only child interact with her monstrous and grumpy new pet as she packed her school robes. He chuckled when he saw her wand sticking out of her right sock. Crazy little thing. She had slept with the stick, afraid that it would vanish in the morning. Cherry wood and phoenix feather. That was quite a combination. With the rare cherry wood came power and with this core came latent ability and initiative of the wand. Its will would be strong. It was a worrisome combination, but it had chosen his small daughter. He was going to trust the magic. He had always trusted the magic.

"All set?" Dragon asked, extending his hand for a side-along apparition. Jack grabbed his hand with one of hers, the other holding Aras's cage tightly. Her father grasped the handle of her trunk and then they were off.

Jack had never liked side-along apparition. The pull on her arm and then the feeling of being in a vacuum, her eyes almost popping out of their sockets and her lungs compressed, unbreathing. It was horrible. She swayed for a couple of moments after they materialized in one of the lavatories at the station. The world swam in front of her eyes and Aras screeched in terror and discomfort. They obviously shared opinions of apparition. Thankfully, she managed to hold in her breakfast this time.

"Are you good?" Dragon asked, looking to his, suddenly green-faced, daughter. "Not gonna waste my perfectly good eggs and bacon, are you?" Jack glared at him and he laughed. It was like a little kitten growling at a lion.

"I'm going to puke on you on purpose now." She threatened. "When you aren't expecting it." Dragon picked up the trunk and headed outside, his daughter following.

"Oh, but, midget, you forget who you're talking to." He grinned back at her cheekily. "I'm always expecting mischief." Jack shook her head at her father, not being able to stay mad at him for long.

The train station was hectic. People were rushing left and right, pushing each other, yelling, swearing and then repeating the cycle. There were a couple of them standing still, waiting for their trains patently. But, those were rare. Jack looked around wide-eyed.

"You coming?" Her father called out. He had a trolley ready, her trunk secured on top. She ran after him and then wriggled under his arm, trying to both hold the owl cage and push her trolley. Dragon laughed, but allowed it. He was sometimes truly too soft on his daughter.

X

"Anything from the trolley, dear?" The kind old lady asked, opening the door to Jack's compartment. The small girl looked up from her encyclopedia and nodded. Her stomach was rumbling with hunger. Even though she had managed to keep her breakfast down, she was still a growing child. With a huge smile (her father wouldn't steal any of her sweets) she picked some things from the cart. After carrying the lot to the comfortable seat she went to close the door again, only to meet a familiar face.

"Miti!" Exclaimed Jack, a grin splitting on her face. She grabbed his hand without waiting for his answer and then pulled the poor boy into her compartment. He looked a bit disheveled, but sat down none the less. "How have you been? Excited? Which House do you want to be in? Do you want a chocolate frog? Have you made any friends yet?" Jack kept firing off questions, not waiting for answers. She threw a chocolate frog at him and Dmitry caught it swiftly.

"I have been splendid, thank you for asking." The noble boy said, opening his treat with clear skill. He had muggle clothing on. A tailored suit and clean-polished shoes. "I am quite thrilled to start my first year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and what about you? I cannot tell you if I prefer a House. I possess each of the four qualities that decide your destination. I would think it best to leave that to the sorting test." Jack opened her mouth to interrupt, but Dmitry whipped her with his blue eyes in warning, telling her to let him finish answering. "Thank you for the frog, however, I already possess the card of Falco Aesalon. You may have it if you so wish." The boy handed her the purple card slowly, their fingers brushing. Jack was surprised at the smoothness of his skin. He must've never worked with his hands before! "I have made some acquaintances. Two boys named August Renshaw and Brutus Nettlebed. Also, one girl. I believe she said that her name was Jaqueline Knight, though I might be mistaken." Dmitry smiled at Jack finally, seeing her blush.

"How did you find out!? You can't tell anyone!" She jumped, clasping both hands over his mouth in a flash. "You can't!" She repeated. The boy was shaking from laughter by now. He grabbed her hands and moved her away gently.

"I saw you with your father that day in Diagon Alley." He explained once she had sat back down. "I recognized him immediately, my mother is a rather avid fan, I must admit, and then I merely asked about."

Jack tossed him another chocolate frog which Dmitry caught easily. "You must keep it a secret." She told him. He raised one delicate eyebrow.

"Are you attempting to bribe me?" The boy asked in his strangely deep voice.

"Is it working?" The girl replied with a cheeky grin (so much like her father, even though she would never admit it).

"Maybe." The Russian said, catching his frog skillfully as it attempted to jump away.

X

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" Yelled a voice, gathering the youngest children on the train. Jack soon found the source. A giant of a man was standing in front of her, towering over everyone. He had bushy, untamed hair and a beard to match. However, his beady black eyes were kindly looking down on them, watching that he gathered all the youngsters. Jack immediately decided that she liked him. She had been a bit anxious, leaving Aras and her trunk alone on the train. However, the mere sight of this man had vanquished those thoughts. Hogwarts was a safe place, Jack convinced herself. "Firs' years follow me!" Proclaimed the giant-man and chaos ensued. Everyone was pushing, pulling, cursing and then pushing once again.

"Mind yer step!" The man spoke once again, but too late for Jack. She tripped on something and flew forward, closing her eyes and waiting for impact that never came. Two sets of arms had caught her on her dangerous way down. She blinked to the left and to the right and was surprised to see the twins that had been in Diagon Alley.

"Watch it." They chorused.

"What do we have here, Gred?" The left one said.

"A clumsy, little witch, Forge." The other replied.

"And what shall we do with the clumsy, little witch?" Left again. Jack felt her neck hurting from the Ping-Pong match of words that she was following. The boys were deceptively strong, holding her up. She finally snapped out of it and tried to scramble onto her feet. However, she wasn't fast enough.

"Teach her a lesson, of course!" Said the right twin and then they let go. Jack flew to the ground and hit it hard. She could hear the twins laughing as they left. Cruel, she thought. She could feel her eyes stinging with tears, but she pushed them back. The students were going around her, allowing her to lie on the rocky and dusty ground.

The small girl shook her head and pushed herself up. With a scowl on her face and revenge on her mind she headed forward to the boats. She was going to return this full force.

However, after rounding the corner of the rocky path and looking past the patch of forest, all thought of revenge and mischief were banished from Jack's mind. She gasped.

Hogwarts stood there, magnificent, on a hill, overlooking the lake. Thousands of small, yellow windows shone brightly in the dark, like stars. Their reflection could be seen on the calm, ink-like surface of the lake, setting fire to it. Jack tried to count the number of turrets and towers as the first years moved, but she failed. She tried to identify all the places that she had heard her father talk about with his friends when they thought that she was asleep, but she couldn't. She had simply forgotten all and was merely gawking at the beautiful place where she would be staying for the next seven years. Giving up on holding it in (not like she ever had a filter to begin with), Jack whooped and whistled loudly and then ran forward, snaking her smaller body through the crowd. She only stopped once she reached the giant-man.

"No more 'n- Why hello there!" The man exclaimed once he saw Jack's bright and gleaming face, ready for an adventure. "In you go." He directed her into one of the boats. "No more'n four to a boat!"

Jack anxiously climbed into one and sat in her seat, fidgeting. She was too excited to be steady. She needed these people to hurry up and get to the castle already! Dmitry gave her a small smile, unnoticed by others, as he attempted to royally climb into the boat. He failed in that attempt and had a moment of graceless arm waving before Jack caught him and pulled him next to her. His long, black coat was warm and the small girl snuggled into his side shamelessly.

"You seem excited?" The boy remarked, allowing her to be overly personal with him. He had decided during their train ride together that it was useless to attempt to fend off Jack. She was a force of nature and she always got what she wanted, even though she had a memory of a goldfish (three seconds). He didn't mind her affection. It was strange. Dmitry had never had this kind of an intimate relationship with his parents. They were always cold and distant. It was a nice change, to have someone as warm and bright as Jack beside him.

"I am!" The small witch exclaimed. "I can't wait to get to the castle! Exploooooore!" She was wriggling and rocking the boat successfully. Dmitry felt his stomach swim and his meal greet his throat.

"Explore?" A redheaded boy from the boat next to them exclaimed.

"You?" Said the other, identical, redhead.

"Never." They chorused and Dmitry decided immediately that he didn't like them. Jack, however, grinned widely, revenge resurfacing on her mind.

"We'll see." She told them and turned her back on them swiftly. That was a bad move, though. The twins grinned at each other as soon as she wasn't paying attention and then dipped each one hand into the lake. The icy drops flew through the air, and before Dmitry could react, they hit both first years. Jack gasped and started shivering as the twins laughed.

"Stop tha' there!" The giant-man exclaimed, looking over the boats once more. "Everyone in?" Jack looked around only to see that the twins had been joined in their vessel by a small boy of dark skin and messy dreadlocks and a girl with blonde hair and shy eyes. She turned around to see Dmitry talking to two boys that had entered their boat.

"Right then- Forward!" Yelled the giant-man and the boats moved gracefully. Jack inspected the two other boys in the vessel as they floated towards the castle. They must be August Renshaw and Brutus Nettlebed that Dmitry had talked about, she figured. One of them was kind of chubby, with a round face and dark eyes that were staring at Dmitry in awe. He was holding his hand in his pocket tightly and for a second Jack wondered if he was gripping his wand. However, that fear was broken once he took out a struggling chocolate frog and proceeded to eat it.

The other boy was more on the slender side. He had longish, dark curly hair and brown eyes. He was watching Dmitry as the boy spoke about Quidditch teams down his long, seemingly broken, nose. He was definitely the tallest in their boat. And, Jack noted, he seemed even more arrogant than Dmitry, which was saying something.

The small witch decided that she didn't really like this crowd. She was still debating if she liked Dmitry, after all. But, despite being a bit of a snob, he was fine. And, she had asked him to be her friend. So, he was her friend now, snob or not. Jack nodded to herself, and then turned around narrowly evading a branch that hung low near the water. Her jaw dropped once she saw the castle once again. Now, she could make out so many more details. Simply, it was breathtaking.

X

Jack couldn't breathe. It was as if there were sea waves in her ears suddenly and her heart was about to burst out of her chest. She could feel her hands going completely ice-cold and her legs going numb. She felt someone grab her icy fingers and warm them up in their own. Looking to the side, she saw Dmitry attempting to look calm and collected. However, she could feel him trembling just as much as she was.

You'd expect them to be calm after hearing that the sorting was done by a hat, and not by a troll, like the twins had told almost everyone on their way up. But, Jack wasn't relieved. She was even more nervous, if that were possible. However, the small witch gripped her friend's hand like it was a lifeline, and it eased her nerves a bit.

Suddenly, Dmitry nudged her. Jack looked up at him with wide eyes. What did he want at an important time like this?

"Your turn!" He shout-whispered.

"Knight, Jaqueline?" Professor McGonagall called out once again.

"Move!" Dmitry pushed her and Jack stumbled once again on her shaky and numb legs. She heard the twins snickering behind her. There was buzzing in her ears, like there was absolute silence all around her. She shakily walked to the stool where the stern, but kind, Professor McGonagall was waiting for her. The woman motioned for Jack to sit, her eyes encouraging in a way, and the small girl obeyed, trembling. It took a bit for her to climb onto the semi-tall stool, because she was short. She heard a few snickers and blushed a fine tomato red. The old hat was then dropped on the tiny witch's head and it fell over her eyes. She reached up, letting go of the wooden chair and attempted to push the hat up a bit. However, that flew out the window very quickly.

"Aaaaah~ A curious little thing, aren't you?" A raspy, old voice spoke in her head and Jack froze still. For a second, she was calm, breathing faster and faster, her heart thumping like a frightened bird in her chest. Then, she did the only logical thing that one did in this situation.

Jack screamed bloody murder.

**That's all folks!**

**A bit of info: **

**All the names that Jack suggests for the owl and the stories behind them are real.**

**Dragon is wearing a black shirt with a red bat on it because that is the mascot (and the colors) or his former team, the Ballycastle bats. Their mascot, Barny the Fruitbat, was quite famous (mentioned in the first movie (banner) and the fourth book)**

**I'm sorry if you think that Fred and George are cruel or out of character. They simply aren't the kind of people (in my interpretation) to like someone immediately. And even if they did, they would show it by pranking them. Frankly, Jack reminds them (being short with short hair and a bubbly personality) of ickle Ronniekins.**

**I'm trying to pay attention to the timeline (the 80s and all that) and not put something that didn't exist into my story, if you notice some irregularities, please do tell me.**

**Hope you enjoyed, do review and tell me your thoughts :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Welcome ladies and gents! **

**It's another sunny day at fanfiction and I have some thanks to give!**

**HenriaSownbinder, thank you for the fav, follow and review! I was delighted to see the notification! **

**AngelofDarkness95, Maiannaise and ccshaney, thank you for the follows! I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**Emma Hynes, thank you for the follow and the review! I was so happy to hear your thoughts!**

**Enjoy!**

**Joan Jett – Bad Reputation (1980 Single)**

The Great Hall exploded with laughter. Jack's hands, that were pushing the old hat up, pulled it down, attempting to shield her tomato red face. She wished for the ground to split open, then and there, and swallow her whole. Unfortunately, since that wasn't happening, she settled for hiding behind the hat.

She usually wasn't like that. She didn't scream. She wasn't a girly girl. She didn't fall down and cry. She wasn't a crybaby. What was wrong with her? Was everything going to go wrong at this school? Sure, she had a new friend. Dmitry was nice. But, she had also met the Evil Twins. Her father was right, she should've stayed at home. She should've just gotten home schooled by her father. He knew everything. She didn't need this stupid Hogwarts.

"Is that so?" Asked the hat, as if deep in thought. Professor McGonagall was shushing the students with a stern voice, but she didn't react to the hat's voice. Did that mean that only Jack could hear it? "Bright one, aren't you?" The hat's raspy voice asked again. Jack couldn't exactly describe it. It was like an old man speaking through layers and layers of fabric, barely breathing through them. It was soothing, wise and ancient.

She supposed that she was rather clever, but not overly. She was no bookworm. No, she liked her fair share of reading, as long as it concerned dragons. That was her field of obsession. Everything else, it depended on how much it amused her. She tended to remember the strangest of details.

"Yes, you are smart, but Ravenclaw is not for you. You wouldn't do well there." The voice spoke again. Jack gripped the edge of the hat tightly. The laughter was still loud in the Hall, but it didn't matter to her now. The hat was much more fascinating.

"Hmmm~ You would do well in Slytherin! Such passion for horror and gore! But, you aren't cunning enough. No, power doesn't interest you." The hat kept mumbling. It seemed indecisive for a moment longer, muttering about different houses.

"Maybe Hufflepuff? That would be a good house for you. Yes, you are loyal and kind. I see. Truly, that house would make you develop the best. Truly." Jack felt herself gripping the brim of the hat even harder. She didn't want to go to Hufflepuff! Yes, she was kind and she was determined, but those weren't her main qualities!

"Yes, you are led by another value through your life. You are led by passion and recklessness." And then the hat yelled out much louder. "Gryffindor!" Jack jumped up as her ears finally remembered to function. Clapping from one of the tables, the one on the far right, was deafening. She pulled the Sorting Hat off of her head and handed it back to Professor McGonagall who gave her a small smile. Yes, she was the Head of her new house, Jack remembered. She was in the same house that her father had been in!

The small witch automatically walked towards the rejoicing table and then sat down, still red faced, in between two older looking boys that had made room for her. She looked back to see Dmitry clapping excitedly for her, too. She flashed him a nervous smile, which he returned. Jack turned around and caught the eye of one of the first year girls that had been sorted into the same house. She waved at Jack excitedly.

"Hey, Jaqueline, right?" The dark haired girl spoke. "I'm Angelina. Angelina Johnson. Let's get along?" She reached over the large table awkwardly, attempting to grasp Jack's hand. The small witch jumped up and reached over, too.

"Jack. My name's Jack." She smiled awkwardly at Angelina. She had never had a girl friend before. Actually, she hadn't really had guy friends, more like acquaintances. But, since she lived with her father, she knew how to act around guys. With girls, she was drawing a blank.

"Your father is Mr. Knight, right?" There it was. Jack had known that this would come up. She could see the joy on her classmate's face. Yep, there was her father's amazing reputation. Not that she disliked him or anything, just, she didn't want to be 'Dragon's daughter'. She wanted to be Jack.

However, before she could answer, Professor McGonagall called out a rather familiar name.

"Volkov, Dmitry." Jack turned around to see her friend climbing towards the stool on shaky legs. His head was held high, as if he weren't nervous at all. He sat down easily, being rather tall for their age and then nodded to the Professor as if they were equals. Jack saw the way her Head of house's lips became a thin, straight line. She did not like Dmitry one bit, it seemed. Then again, the Russian was a rather acquired taste.

"That's my friend." Jack whispered to Angelina, explaining why she was preoccupied. The dark haired girl nodded, but she didn't seem impressed. Jack crossed her small fingers in a muggle tradition and chanted 'Gryffindor, Gryffindor' in her head. However, her prayers went unanswered. After a couple more painstakingly long moments the hat yelled out to the Hall.

"Slytherin!"

Jack yelped. The table furthest away from hers exploded in cheers. Dmitry took off the Sorting Hat and handed it to the Professor with an arrogant smirk. He practically floated down to his table, head held high. Jack saw people clapping him on his back and welcoming him. Once he sat down, he turned a bit and gave her a small smile, which Jack weakly returned.

"Are you sure you want to be friends with that one?" Angelina asked once Jack turned back to her. She had her eyebrows raised in doubt. "There's a lot of dark witches and wizards that went to Slytherin." Jack shrugged, as if it didn't bother her one bit. It did. It bugged her. She had heard stories about Slytherin from her father. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had been in Slytherin, too. Was Dmitry like that, also? Was he going to be a dark wizard? She stole another glance at her Russian friend. He was chatting with one of the older students, a small smile on his face. His façade was on, Jack could tell. He was pretending to be all high and noble for his fellow classmates. That isn't bad, is it? He was merely embarrassed to show his true self to them, like he did to Jack. It wasn't a fault to be shy. Maybe it was a fault to be so good at pretending not to be?

"Not all wizards and witches that were in Slytherin became dark, did they?" She retorted to Angelina sharply. Jack decided then and there, that she didn't like girls all that much. She though that they would be much more interesting, the way her father was fascinated by them. All those magazines of attractive witches, and for them to be so fickle? Jack would have to hide them from her father.

Angelina shrugged and turned to a girl that had sat down next to her. Alisha or Anita or something, Jack hadn't really be listening. The small witch turned back to the Sorting Hat just in time to hear Professor McGonagall call out the next name.

"Weasley, Fred."

One of the twins jumped up to the stern witch and sat on the chair. It took a mere second for the hat to proclaim his house.

"Gryffindor!" Boomed its voice. The twin made a show of handing the hat to the Professor, going so far to bow to her with flourish. The woman ushered him off to the clapping table, her lips twitching. Jack found herself cheering with the other Gryffindors, even going so far as to stand up, like many others did. She glanced at the twin, Fred, as his other half's name was called out. Unfortunately for her, the twin caught her gaze and made a big show out of winking at her. Jack stared at him stupidly, like he was insane. He probably was. One moment, he was dropping her on the ground and the next, he was winking at her. Winking!

"Gryffindor!" Called out the hat, sending the last person, George Weasley, to his seat. Jack looked back to her empty plate quickly, as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world. She could hear students all around her chatting happily, asking the first years questions. However, it was all distant chatter to her. She wished that she was in Slytherin, next to Dmitry, goofing off just like on the train.

As the Great Hall silenced and Professor Dumbledore stood up, Jack sneaked a glance at Dmitry. He didn't catch it, though, as he was looking at the old wizard with full attention. Jack directed her own eyes there, watching the man with half-moon spectacles on his eyes. His robe was a delicate silvery-blue, matching the enchanted ceiling of the Hall. He looked like magic itself was supposed to look. Focusing on him, with his long white beard and kind eyes that welcomed them all as his children, Jack forgot her sudden loneliness and prepared to hear and take in every single word.

"Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! I believe that delaying our banquet any longer is simply unnecessary! Let the feast begin!"

And then he sat back down. Everyone started clapping so Jack, naturally, did the same. What a smart man, she decided. He knew that everyone wanted to eat, so he wasn't going to bore them with a long speech. What a smart, smart man. Slightly insane, but smart. Jack decided that she liked him.

"Chicken?" Asked the boy next to her. Jack turned and a grin split her face once she saw all the food that had appeared on their table.

"Yes, please!" She took her plate and handed it to him. The redheaded boy proceeded to fill it with golden pieces of meat, so many that Jack thought that she wouldn't be able to eat all of that. He handed it back and then poured some juice into her goblet. Jack noticed some potatoes a few plates down and stretched to get them. A pair of hands picked them up right in front of her nose and she looked up, hopeful. However, that feeling was crushed once she saw the freckled face that was staring back at her.

"Finders keepers!" The twin told her and took the plate away. Jack frowned, scrunching up her nose. She stuck her tongue out at the twin in question as soon as he turned his back on her. His brother laughed boomingly and Jack quickly sat back down, blushing a deep red. What was wrong with her? She had more class than this! Was this what going to school was like? Was this how it was going to be? She hated it!

"Sorry about them." The boy on her left spoke once again. She looked up at him and noticed the red hair and the freckled face. Jack's eyes widened in realization, dread creeping into her stomach. They had an older brother here?! "They simply can't help it. Our father used to call them 'Ka' and 'Boom'." The older boy passed her a plate full of potatoes and Jack slowly and cautiously took it, expecting some sort of trick. He laughed at her wariness. "Don't worry, I won't play any tricks on you." His smile was warm somehow. Gentle. Jack liked him. "I'm Charlie, by the way. Charlie-"

"Weasley. I know." Jack told him. She put some potatoes onto her plate and then handed it to Angelina who was sitting opposite of them. "I'm Jack." The small witch extended one hand to the older boy and he grasped it in a firm handshake. "Be my friend, Charlie?" Jack asked, eyes twinkling in happiness.

The older Weasley boy laughed, but then sobered up once he realized that she was serious. "Sure." He said. "Let's be friends." And he shook the tiny hand as if he were making the business deal of a century.

X

"Boys dormitories are upstairs and down to your left." Spoke Charlie, directing the sleepy first years. "Girls, the same, but to your right. A word of caution boys, don't attempt to climb the stairs to the girls dormitories. It won't end pretty." With a smile Charlie ushered them off to their beds. Jack found herself following Angelina and her new dark haired friend sleepily up the stairs. She was aware of the Evil Twins somewhere behind her, snickering, as usual. They really were horrible.

She found her things already in the room, along with Aras's cage. With a smile, despite her sleepy state, Jack hurried to her owl and unlocked the cage smoothly. Aras hooted at her and climbed up her robed arm to settle onto her shoulder.

"Merlin! What is that thing?" Exclaimed one of the girls that had come in after the three. Angelina and her friend from dinner turned around now, looking at the huge owl.

"A dragon." Replied Jack cheekily to the black haired girl who had asked. For the love of Merlin, she couldn't remember her roommate's name. She had been too nervous at the Sorting ceremony. Then again, she wasn't sure if she actually wanted to remember this girl's name. "If you get up early enough, you'll see it transform and spit fire." Continued the small witch as Angelina and her friend giggled. The other two girls weren't amused.

"Whatever." The same one said. "It looks positively monstrous." She headed for her bed, flipping her hair.

"Why thank you!" Jack answered, even though she knew that she shouldn't. She simply couldn't help it. "Did you hear that Aras? You're monstrous!" The bird hooted in approval. Angelina walked over with her new friend, smiling.

"Can I pet him? I think he's adorable." The friend asked. Jack gave a shrug, making Aras struggle to stay on her shoulder. "I'm Alicia, by the way."

Jack looked her over for a second. "I'm Jack." She decided then. "Want to be my friends?" She asked the two girls seriously. Angelina and Alicia exchanged puzzled looks.

"S-sure." Angelina spoke first. Jack grabbed her hand and shook it, just like the adults did. Aras hooted in protest and flew onto his cage.

"Good." Exclaimed Jack and then let go, turning to Alicia. The other witch gave her her hand without waiting for the strange first year to grab it. A huge smile appeared on Jack's face as she shook Alicia's hand excitedly. "My first two girl friends!" She told them in a shout-whisper. "I'm so happy!"

Angelina gaped. "You've never had girl friends before?" She asked. Jack shook her head.

"My father and I often moved because of his job." She explained. "He was my friend, though." Alicia and Angelina exchanged glances again.

"I thought you were rude earlier." Angelina admitted. "You're just painfully honest, aren't you?" She asked Jack. The small witch shrugged and then yawned. She really was tired.

"We will continue this discussion tomorrow." Jack ended their conversation once Alicia yawned, too. "Off to bed." She told the girls and headed for the window to let Aras out. He happily flew off with a lout screech.

"Yes, mom." Teased Alicia as she climbed into her bed. Angelina and Jack snickered. The small witch changed quickly and jumped onto her bed. She wriggled under her blankets and took a deep breath. The scent of fresh sheets and warm fireplace told her that she was home. With a smile, Jack decided that she was glad that she came to Hogwarts, Evil Twins or not.

X

The morning was hectic. Jack soon found out what being a girl and sharing a dormitory with other girls meant. Chaos everywhere. Clothes, brushes, hair products, nail polish bottles, various hairbands and hairclips were everywhere. She hadn't known that that many brands of beauty products existed, let alone that one person could use them all.

"Jack, have you seen my jumper?" Angelina asked as she rummaged through her trunk.

"On your bed." Replied Alicia. Jack stood, frozen, in her uniform and ready, watching. This was not a normal morning for her. No. She may go insane if every morning was going to be like this. She needed a little bit of order. Just a tad.

Their other to roommates had left for breakfast already, leaving Jack to decide whether to wait for her new friends or not. She had decided to wait. She had decided wrong. The insanity continued for at least half an hour, after which the girls decided that they were ready. By the time they reached the common room, Jack thought that she was going to be mentally scarred forever by the end of the term.

On the positive side, they got lost only twice on their way to the Great Hall. Breakfast was fast and light, just how Jack preferred it. Then again, she missed her mornings with Dragon already. They usually got up before dawn and ate while the sun rose. Nobody here did that. Jack had watched the sun rise on her own that day. She took comfort in the fact that somewhere out there, her father had watched the same scene.

"Miss Knight." Professor McGonagall handed her a piece of parchment and Jack paused in her meal (toast and jam) to take it. She thanked the woman clumsily through her food and started reading her timetable. It didn't seem too bad. They even had a few classes with Slytherin!

"Got your timetables?" Charlie sat down next to Jack and asked her and her two friends. The three nodded. "Let me see? I'll tell you where the classrooms are." He took one parchment and read through it. "Ok. So, your first period is Charms, that's in the classroom 2E, third floor, on the Charms Corridor." Charlie explained, the three girls listening with full attention. "Professor Flitwick teaches that class. He is a good teacher, a kind Professor, ask him if you have any problems."

The prefect next looked to the girls for a second. Alicia was barely seeing through her sleepy eyes, Angelina was taking notes on her arm in a rush and Jack was chewing her toast and staring at him like he was the most fascinating creature in this world. He chuckled and continued.

"Then, you have History of Magic." Charlie laughed. "You're going to love this subject." He told the trio. "The classroom is 4F. That's first floor, it's not that hard to find." He handed the timetable back and poured himself some milk. Then, the prefect proceeded to pile one after another egg onto his plate. Jack briefly wondered where he put all that. Charlie was by no means fat. No, he was fit, from playing Quidditch, she could tell, and he was rather short, compared to other seventh years. But, he wasn't fat. Angelina and Alicia were a little too preoccupied with their talk about some thing or another, pointing around the Hall, which left Jack to annoy the older student. She waited for Charlie to swallow his food and get a huge gulp of milk in before speaking.

"Is there a library here?" The small girl asked, getting his attention successfully. Charlie gave her a surprised look.

"Yeah, third floor." He said through his food. Obviously, Gryffindor first years weren't keen on studying. Jack gave him a thankful grin and took another bite of her sweet breakfast.

"Oh, is our ickle Howler going to start studying from day one?"

"Of course she is! Why in the world wouldn't she?"

Great, thought Jack, preoccupying herself with putting more jam onto her toast. The Evil Twins were awake.

"Look on the bright side! We'll always have someone to copy off of?" The black boy with dreadlocks from the boat dropped beside Angelina. Jack suppressed a groan. Great, like two of them weren't enough. They needed to adopt a third brother into their mix. One of the twins draped his arm over her shoulder, grinning. She was a bit annoyed that she couldn't tell which one it was.

"Awwww! Is our Howler embarrassed?" The twin said, causing the other two boys to laugh.

"She certainly-" Said the other one.

"Roared like a true lion yesterday!" They chorused. Jack got up, slamming her hands on the table as she did. She turned around and glared at the grinning twins. She was positively furious, her nose scrunched up in anger. However, Jack didn't do anything. Her father always said 'be the better man'. Yes. She was the better man!

"I'll see you in Charms." She told Angelina and Alicia who nodded to her and then she grabbed her old bag and ran out of the Great Hall, throat tight and eyes stinging. She could hear Charlie scolding his younger brothers as she went. However, it wasn't the prefect's words that followed her to her class, it was the twins' mocking laughter.

X

"Welcome to Charms!" Said the small man, standing comfortably on top of a huge stack of books, just to be seen over his desk. "This is a compulsory subject that you will have until your fifth year here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Jack moved in her seat slightly so she could see the tiny man better. She was sitting next to Lee, the boy with dreadlocks, part of the Magnificent Trio. She had come first into the classroom and chosen a nice seat, in the middle. For some reason, Lee had simply plopped down next to her and then stayed there, no matter how much she glared at him. Then, he had apologized! He, not the twins, had apologized for their behavior to her! The nerve of him! Jack had taken it with class, though. She had given him a small nod and then proceeded to write out the missing properties of dragon blood into her encyclopedia.

She really was disappointed in the quality of today's books about dragons. Some didn't have enough information, and others had simply wrong information. In the end, she was going to pile up everything she knew about dragons and write it all down. Then, someone else was going to have a proper book to learn from. Now, her encyclopedia was safely tucked into her father's old leather bag.

"I am Professor Flitwick and I will be teaching this class. Now, if you would all open your books to page eleven, we will begin learning the Levitation Charm." The tiny Professor said and Jack bent down to take her book out only to find her bag missing. She looked under her chair, and then on the other side, but it wasn't there! Jack turned around, only to see the Evil Twins in the back grinning at her. They were snickering, turning pages of her encyclopedia. That was it. That was the last straw. Jack turned around to smile politely at Lee.

"May I borrow your book?" She asked politely, her tone pure sugar. Lee gave her a surprised look, baffled by her nice behavior, but nodded.

"Sure." He handed his Charms book over to her. Jack turned it over in her hands a couple of times, feeling the strong hardcover. Yes, this was perfect. Her head was boiling by now, but not with fiery rage. No, her anger was like ice-fire, cool and collected. She turned around to the Evil Twins to see them snickering at one of her (rather bad) drawings in the encyclopedia. They were so perfectly oblivious, that it made her delighted. She tossed one more glance at Professor Flitwick, but he was preoccupied ("This is the arm movement, with your wrist. Swish and flick! Now, repeat. Swish and flick!"). Jack grinned, finally back in her element and flung Lee's copy of Standard Book of Spells quite skillfully (she had had practice with her father) at the cackling twins.

It was then, in their first period, Charms, on September 2nd, a Tuesday, that Jaqueline Knight, Fred Weasley and George Weasley received their first detention.

And Godric only knew that it wasn't going to be their last.

**That's all folks!**

**Now, a little info:**

**I know that September 2****nd**** 1989 was actually a Saturday, but, do humor me xD I just imagined it so perfectly before checking and didn't have the heart to change it xD**

**I hope that Jack doesn't come off as Mary Sue here, I'm trying to keep in mind that she is a young girl (11) who grew up only with her father, who is rather immature (kind of reminds me of Sirius actually). She is mature in some aspects and rather immature in others. She tried to act like an adult, because she didn't have a lot of contact with children her age, but is failing.**

**Fred and George… Yeah… They are mean to her… But then again, they are just acting the way they act towards Ron and Ginny, because Jack is small and boy-like. She is also weird (they don't know her backstory) to them and that calls for some teasing. But, we'll see how it develops… I think that the twins aren't the open kind of people, especially when they were younger. They don't simply let someone into their group, especially a girl. Remember when you were that age people, girls were lame to the boys, they didn't want to play with them and instead, everyone travelled in gender packs.**

**I am by no means racist, or trying to come off that way, so if any of the parts with Lee offend you, I'm sorry.**

**Onto the reviews!**

**Emma Hynes: I'm happy that you started reading my story! I have a bad tendency of not finishing things (just to warn you) but I will do my best :) Thank you for the character input, I'm always terrified of making Mary Sues and Gary Stus :( **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**HenriaSownbinder: I hope that the terrifying thing was positive? xD I'm glad that you like the story so far :) **

**I have a bit of a pet peeve about timeline. I have seen many fics where OCs sing or know songs or singers from 2010 when they are in 1989. I just like to keep it as realistic as possible. Jack has had some exposure to the muggle world, and she does like some of the bands and songs (that may appear later) but I'm really careful about what happened when… Simply weird that way xD**

**Hope you enjoyed!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Welcome ladies and gents! Let me begin by saying….. Holy cricket! I didn't expect this much attention for this story xD Thank you so much:**

**For the favs: alaskanwoman25 and Selena Snow!**

**For the alerts: LPeck, alaskanwoman25, gingergryffindor, .9 and LocaMonkey24**

**And for the reviews (which are my greatest pleasure ever!): Maiannaise, gingergryffindor, Emma Hynes, HenriaSownbinder and Unknown girl!**

**Please, enjoy the chapter!**

**AC/DC – Hells Bells (1980)**

_Miss Jaqueline Knight_

_Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Great Hall_

_Dear Jaqueline, _

_Congratulations on being sorted into Gryffindor! I'm so proud of you, midget! How is everything? Have you made any new friends? What about that Opaleye boy? Are you in the same house? Tell me everything!_

_Minnie wrote to me. She said that you have detention already? That's my girl! She mentioned you throwing a book in Charms, too. I hope you threw well, just like I taught you. Of course, I replied to Minnie very politely, so don't worry._

Jack stopped reading for a moment and looked at the teachers' table. Sure enough, McGonagall was reading a letter, her lips in a thin line and her eyes shooting sparks. Damn her father, thought Jack. Of course he would get McGonagall all pissed at her.

_Do tell me how it is over there, midget. It's been so long since I was last at Hogwarts. Here, it's been pretty normal. I'm going to work every day. I'm eating well (I promise I'm not living on canned food). The team has a new player. She's great, but still needs some more work on her speed and agility. I expect that she will be playing first line Chaser by the end of the year._

_Write to me soon my favorite midget,_

_I'm so lucky!_

_Pa_

_P.S.: I spared you some treats and sent them in the parcel, I hope it all gets there safely, this owl doesn't look too reliable._

Jack chuckled at her father's distrust of animals. She looked at the dark owl which was sitting on the table calmly, waiting for payment. The small witch dug through her robes and found a couple of sickles. She carefully placed them into the small leather pouch that the bird had on its leg. The owl hooted in agreement and flew off. Jack opened the small parcel next and laughed when Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans fell out. Her father had never liked those.

"Mail from your family?" Angelina asked sitting opposite of Jack. The small witch nodded.

"Pa sends his regards." She explained.

"You never told me, your father is the Scarlet Dragon, is he not?" Her friend (yes, her girl friend!) wouldn't be deterred. Jack nodded into her breakfast (bacon, eggs and white cheese). "I knew it!" Angelina almost jumped up in her joy, making a couple of fourth years look at them like they were insane. "Say, do you think he would sign my shirt?" She asked.

Jack nodded once again, not feeling like talking. Angelina kept humming all the way through her breakfast. Jack managed to eat half of hers, but then didn't feel like eating any more. She pushed her plate away and took out a parchment and quill.

_Dear Pa_

She began before someone stole her letter-to-be. Jack looked up, only to see a freckled face. She frowned at the twin. She knew which one he was. She had, after all, sent his twin to the Hospital Wing.

"Give it back, Fred." She demanded. Surprise flashed through his eyes when she didn't mix him up with his brother, but it vanished quickly.

"I don't think I will." He grinned. Jack took a deep breath. She wasn't going to get into more trouble because of him. She was in enough as it is.

"Fine. Take it then." Jack gulped her pumpkin juice down quickly and stood up, taking her old bag with her. "Along with my undying love for you." She said sarcastically and left the Hall. What she didn't see was Fred's ears turning a fine lobster red. The Weasley in question pocketed her parchment and sat down quickly, eating in silence.

X

After a quick trip to the library, where she hid from the non-hospitalized part of the Magnificent Trio (not that she minded Lee all that much), Jack headed to the dungeons for Potions. She had managed to write a short letter for her Pa. Of course, she had told him all about the Evil Twins and their new, dreadlocked addition. Then, she had written about Angelina (and her shirt) and about Alicia. She had also told Dragon about the most boring subject in history, History of Magic and how Charlie had lied. In the end, it became a rather long letter, at least two parchments.

Thinking about when she was going to have time to actually send the letter (by Aras of course), Jack entered the crowd that was waiting for Professor Snape. She saw Angelina and Alicia and headed towards them. Alicia noticed her and caught her arm, pulling her close. They formed a circle, huddling together, before Alicia whispered.

"Is it true?" She asked looking at Jack. The small witch gave her a confused stare. "That you like Fred Weasley? That twin?"

"What?!" Jack couldn't contain her scream of anguish. Her? Like that insufferable git? No way!

"Shhhhhh!" Said Angelina, pulling her back into their small circle. "Well?" She asked now. Jack gave her an incredulous look.

"Who is the idiot that told you that?" The small witch asked. Angelina and Alicia exchanged glances. Jack hated it when they exchange glances. It was like they knew something that she didn't. "Guys?"

"I heard it from Penelope Clearwater who heard it from Roger Davies who heard it from Patricia Stimpson." Alicia explained. Jack stared.

"What a load of rubbish." She told them finally, shaking her head. However, despite her calm demeanor, as Professor Snape opened the classroom and the students piled in, Jack's head was full of thoughts about Fred Insufferable Weasley.

"Sit with me." A deep voice shook her out of her thoughts and Jack smiled at Dmitry as bright as the sun. Her joy of having potions with Slytherin returned. How did she manage to forget about that in the first place? The two friends settled onto one of the workspaces, taking out their books. "How do you like your house so far? Have you made any acquaintances?"

"It's brilliant! I love it!" Jack attempted to whisper though her excitement. "I've made two new friends." She turned around to look for Alicia and Angelina, only to catch sight of two identical redheads in the back. Jack scrunched up her nose. So, the Magnificent Trio was in full power once again. The twins looked identical once more, the broken nose and bloodied lip all fixed. Lee's book, powered by her aim, had done damage, she thought with dark pleasure.

"Something wrong?" Dmitry asked, looking back also. Jack shook her head.

"There! Those two!" She waved at Alicia and Angelina and the former waved back enthusiastically with a large grin. Angelina looked unsure, but she managed a small smile.

"They seem appropriate." Said Dmitry. Jack gave him a raised eyebrow look. He smiled slightly. "I'm glad that you have made… err… friends. That is what you wanted, no?" He really was trying, wasn't he? Jack nodded, but then looked to the front as Professor Snape began his lecture.

X

By the end of Herbology, the rumor about Jack's undying love for Fred Weasley had spread like wildfire through the school. Whether it was her fellow first years muttering in the hallways about 'Dragon's daughter in love with a Weasley twin' or some of the older students chatting about some 'famous first year with a huge crush on her third day', the stories had become more and more incredulous by the minute. Every time someone told the tale, they would add something into it. So, before their flying lesson with Madam Hooch, a boy from Hufflepuff (whom she had never seen before in her life) asked if her father had truly started a feud with the Weasley family about his daughter losing her purity.

This led to Jack not really wanting to go to class (she hadn't even bothered answering the boy). But, she ended up going. Fortunately, their flying class was with Slytherin, also. She pushed through the crowd of muttering and snickering students and approached Dmitry. They had separated after potions, as he had wanted to go with his housemates.

"Have you ever flown before?" Jack asked the Russian, looking up and squinting against the sun.

"Once." Replied the boy. "It was horrendous." He said dramatically in his deep voice, making her laugh. Dmitry looked at her with a painful expression.

"Sorry, I just can't imagine you doing anything wrong." Jack giggled. Dmitry shrugged.

"I get sick." He admitted, lowering his voice. Jack could see the small blush on his cheeks. He didn't want his housemates to see his weakness.

"Wanna skip?" The look she received said enough.

"Good afternoon class! Welcome to your first flying lesson!" Madam Hooch had arrived. She was a rather fit and slim woman, short haired and sharp eyed. By her build, Jack would guess that she had played Seeker once. The class of first years chorused her 'good afternoon'. Making up her mind, nose scrunched, Jack raised her hand. "Yes, Miss?"

"Knight, Madam." The small witch supplied. She saw the way Madam Hooch's eyes flashed in recognition and continued. "I'm not feeling too well, may I go to the Hospital Wing?" She could see Dmitry giving her a look of disbelief from the corner of her eye.

The Madam nodded. "Of course. Why don't you take Miss Knight, Mr.?"

"Volkov." Dmitry supplied, suddenly looking much less green in the face. Madam Hooch shooed them away and they started walking across the grass slowly, the Russian pretending to help his friend get to the castle. Once they were inside the halls and out of sight of Madam Hooch, he turned to her.

"I am grateful for that, but it was unnecessary." Dmitry said in his deep voice. Jack smiled at him (the adrenaline making her tremble from excitement), taking his hand and pulling him along.

"It's good that you're grateful, now you can repay me." She laughed at his surprised face. "I don't understand Potions one bit." Jack explained with a frown.

"Truly." Dmitry laughed. "It's a rare talent for someone to blow up their cauldron on the first day." He teased as they headed towards the library.

"Shut up." Jack retorted, bumping their shoulders together. He returned the bump awkwardly after a while.

X

During the next few days rumors went insane. Apparently, Jack had become the love topic of the school, which, in her opinion, was ridiculous. For the love of Merlin, she was just eleven! But, that didn't stop the students. After a while, she began to laugh at some of the stories openly. The one about her actually being engaged to both Weasley twins. Or the one about her actually being in love with Dmitry, but making him jealous by flirting with Fred.

And that Weasley. Oh, Merlin. Don't even get her started. He was enjoying it! He was enjoying every single second of being in the center of attention! The worst part was, nobody knew which twin was which, so they would just congratulate both of them. Once, Jack had seen one twin being patted on the back and laughing about his love adventures, only to round the corner and almost crash into the other, who was doing the same. Ridiculous!

But, Jack didn't mind that. She didn't care. She had learned her lesson and realized that school wasn't all fairytales, like her Pa had tried to tell her. She had fallen into a routine by now.

In the morning, she would get up before dawn and head to see Aras (once he had returned from her father's, letterless). They would watch the sun rise together. She would tell him everything that happened the day before, and (which she would never admit) she sometimes even cried. Jack wasn't used to these things. She was used to her father and his friends, who were all nice to her.

Then, she would go down for breakfast, missing the chaos of Alicia and Angelina getting ready, and she would hang out with them and Charlie. The prefect was there half of the time, the other half, he was either asleep from all the duties (night patrol) or hanging out with his friends. He had found common ground with Jack – dragons. They had probably bored the whole Gryffindor table one morning, talking about the reproduction of the Norwegian Ridgeback. Now, whenever they began their debate, groans could be heard from their fellow students.

During lunch, Jack liked to sit with Dmitry. She still remembered the first time she casually crossed the Great Hall and plopped down next to him at the Slytherin table. She had apparently broken a no Gryffindor-Slytherin interaction taboo that day. But, she had grown some backbone. If they were going to talk about the Dragon's daughter, let them talk about something that's actually real. And her friendship with Dmitry was absolutely great. She was even influencing his vocabulary a bit.

Dinner she spent with an open book at the Gryffindor table, reading about the things that confused her. Jack had discovered that she had a certain knack for blowing things up. Apparently, she could only brew potions that contained dragon ingredients. Maybe she paid more attention to those? But, all the other ones blew up in her face. Even when they shouldn't be able to blow up.

Charms, she could do fairly well. She still hadn't managed to get her feather to fly, but it had moved a teensy weensy bit. Transfiguration was horrible. Well, maybe it was just Jack who was horrible. Her needle (which had been a match) still had a red, blunt end which was ignitable. Professor McGonagall had allowed for them to try once before they began learning the theory. Jack was officially scared of transfiguration.

The other subjects weren't too bad, but she wasn't too good at them either. She prided herself in being better than the Evil Twins, which sat in the back (in every class) and caused trouble. They had set off dungbombs in Astronomy, just for the heck of it. Then, they had pushed and shoved the students waiting for Professor Snape to open the classroom, causing quite a few light injuries. And in the end, they had set a couple of Bludgers free in the hallway. Most of the people had gotten out without serious injuries.

Thankfully, that weekend was rather quiet. It seemed like Fred and George had run out of steam, but Jack wasn't fooled. She had seen them more than once, plotting in a corner. She wasn't going to be caught off guard. Thankfully, they had moved their focus from her onto the entire school, which was great in Jack's opinion. Sure, she could stand the occasional prank, but not like on the first day. That had been bullying.

It was on Sunday, after dinner, that something unexpected happened. Jack was walking back to the common room, her head in one of the dragon books that Charlie had recommended (he had great taste!) when Dmitry's friends, Renshaw and Nettlebed, along with their fellow older housemates stopped her.

"Look who it is! Dragon's daughter!" Jack attempted to ignore and avoid the older boy, but it didn't work. "Hey, hey, hey! Where do you think you're going?" The tall Slytherin tore the book from her hands and flipped it to the front cover. Page fifty nine, Jack made a mental note.

"Dragon's daughter, reading about dragons?" Mocked another older student. By their stature, Jack would guess fourth or fifth year. "How appropriate!"

"Should we teach her that fame isn't everything?" Said Renshaw, joining in. There was a cruel smile on his long face. He towered over Jack threateningly, despite being her age. Nettlebed was laughing stupidly in the back. Jack looked around, but she was alone with the Slytherins in the hallway. She was screwed. In a flash, the girl pulled out her wand and pointed it at the older boy.

"Oooooh! Look, she has a wand!" He mocked, unafraid. "Do you know any spells, Dragon's daughter, after two weeks at Hogwarts?" He knew just how screwed she was. However, Jack had read about spells to calm and suppress dragons. She could do it. She could do one of those. She could remember the motions, as if she had read them a second ago. The Latin words were clear on her tongue as she waved a smooth, practiced motion, her nose scrunched up in concentration.

"Expelliarmus!" The other older student yelled out, taking her wand swiftly. He was frowning.

"That's enough, Ward. Let's go." Said the one holding her wand. Renshaw walked closer to the, now defenseless, Jack.

"Why? Let's teach her a lesson! It'll be a good payback for those Weasleys, too." Said the first year. "My father taught me a spell before I came to Hogwarts. I've wanted to try it out for a while." He raised his wand clumsily and waved it madly around.

"Locomotor Wibbly!" Yelled Renshaw, like it was some kind of a war cry. Jack raised her hands to shield her face on instinct, moving a step back. For a moment nothing happened, then another voice said.

"Good spell, wrong way to do it. Here. Locomotor Wibbly!" The older student that had taken her wand cursed her. Immediately, Jack felt the effects of the spell. Her legs became numb and she fell to the floor, unable to stand. She tried to push herself up with her arms, but she couldn't. She didn't feel her legs. At all. She felt dull pain in them, but nothing else. They were completely out of her control, numb. Jack's throat clenched and she gasped for air. Vaguely, she was aware of the tears that were now streaming down her cheeks. Blood scorching rage fueled through her veins and she looked up at the Slytherins, nose scrunched up in anger.

However, before she could do anything, someone from down the hall yelled. "Expelliarmus!" the spell was far from perfect, because it hit one Slytherin and sent him flying into the other, their wands still in their grasp. It was effective, though.

"What do you think you're doing, making our ickle Howler cry?" That voice was a bit too familiar for Jack's liking.

"Yeah. We're the only ones allowed to do that." The other, identical voice said. Jack looked to the side to see the Weasley twins coming down the hallway, wands raised, grins on their faces. Their eyes meant business, though.

"What do you want, Weaselby one and Weaselby two?" Ward whipped out his wand on them.

"Watch out, there may be more of them coming! They are a rather large family, after all." Renshaw mocked, smirking. Jack saw the twin's ears become red, but they shrugged the comments off.

"We just came-" Spoke one.

"To tell you-" Continued the other.

"That Filch-"

"Is coming-"

"This way." They ended together. They kept smirking as the Slytherins scrambled away, leaving Jack's wand on the floor. Everyone knew how much terror the caretaker, Filch, spread wherever he went. The twins looked at Jack for a second and then exchanged glances. The small witch averted her eyes to the floor, embarrassed. She must be in a horrible state. The Evil Twins were just what she needed.

"C'mon." Said one twin, walking to her. He bent down and grasped her arm pulling her up. "Oh, Merlin! George, come help!" Jack yelled.

"I'm not that heavy, you insufferable git!" She protested.

Fred laughed. "That's the spirit!" And then pulled her up on his own. Jack still couldn't feel her legs, but she attempted to put some weight onto them.

"Weasley!" She called out to the other twin who had picked up her wand. He turned with a questioning look. "Page fifty nine." She told him in a small voice before breaking down in sobs. The twins looked at each other, debating with their eyes who was going to take the crying girl. Fred lost. With a face that said that he would rather be anywhere in the world than there, he patted Jack's back awkwardly, holding her up against the wall. She merely wailed louder. Fred looked at George like his twin could solve this impossible problem. The other twin gave a sigh and walked over, book and wand in hand. He, too, patted Jack's back.

"It's going to be fine." He tried to say that sentence that their mother usually said to calm Ginny and Ron down. Sure enough, it worked like magic. Jack's sobs became softer and her sniffling lessened. Her head came up and she managed a weak smile.

"That was a brilliant spell." She praised. Fred almost glowed when he heard that.

"Well, we do attend class." He explained with pride. Jack turned to him now.

"But Professor Flitwick only talked about it in theory." She frowned, one small hand coming up to brush her tears and snot away in an unlady-like manor. She wiped it against her robes, already dirty from the floor.

"Well, it seemed easy enough to us." George said, grinning at his twin. "Let's get you to the hospital wing." With that, they began pulling her down the hallway awkwardly.

"Madam Pomfrey is going to explode." Fred commented, but he couldn't suppress his happiness about the advanced spell that he had been praised for. He gloated all the way to the hospital wing.

X

"You two again?!" Shrieked Madam Pomfrey. "Oh, dear Merlin! And from your own house?!" She kept yelling as she ignored the twins attempt at defense and made them carry Jack to one of the beds. The small witch felt rather useless, her legs out of order and all. She stared between the three as they argued (shouted) at each other. However, the school nurse wasn't listening to the twins one bit, she was simply blaming the whole incident on them.

"It was my fault, Madam Pomfrey." Jack suddenly spoke in a tiny voice, causing complete silence.

"What?" Said the nurse and Fred (or George) at the same time. The other twin was gaping at her like she was insane. Jack really wished for him to close his mouth already.

"I was being teased by someone from another house and I tried to hex them with one of the spells that I read about." She told the nurse, schooling her face into an innocent one. Yes, her father had been great practice. Jack glanced at her lap and made her eyes water by thinking about everything that she was sad about and then hiccupped. "They were going to curse me, Madam Pomfrey!" She looked up at the witch again, tears falling down her cheeks. Fred and George were gaping in the background, but they didn't matter to Jack then. She was focused on Madam Pomfrey. "My spell backfired, though. If the Weasleys hadn't come when they did…" She paused to put in one skillfully placed sob. "They had no right to talk about my father the way they did!" She started crying full-on once again and grabbed onto the school nurse.

The startled woman bought Jack's story word for word. She soothed the small witch, patting her head. "It's alright. It could've been worse." Jack chanced a look at the twins under the nurse's arm and saw them grinning wide. She made a comically sad face, trying to tell them not to be that smug about getting away with cursing an older student, but that merely made them snicker even more. She simply gave up in the end. There was no use. They were going to screw it up. And she had done a perfect performance, too!

Madam Pomfrey slowly pushed Jack away. "Here, Miss Knight." She offered her some tissues and Jack took one with a hiccup. She wiped her tears away and continued dry sobbing from time to time for good measure. "It's alright, child." Said the nurse. "It's just a simple curse." She performed the counter-curse with one precise movement of her wand and Jack suddenly regained full control of her legs.

"Thank y-you." She hiccupped. Madam Pomfrey gave her a kind smile.

"Here. Drink this and rest." The nurse handed her a small bottle. "Off you go now." And the Madam shooed them out of the Hospital Wing.

The three first years walked in silence, unable to comprehend their level of luck. Fred and George were thinking about their last chat with Charlie. He had managed to convince McGonagall not to write to their mother, which was a great thing. However, that also meant that the twins were hanging on a thin lifeline. If their mother heard about their adventures at Hogwarts… Well… Let's just say that it wouldn't end well.

On the other hand, Jack was thinking about what just happened. The Evil Twins had saved her. No questions asked. They had stuck their necks out for her when she was in trouble, even though she had thrown a book at them. They had buried the hatchet when it was needed. The way she looked at them had changed. The way she thought about them had changed. They weren't so evil in her eyes anymore.

"Thanks." She murmured when George handed her her book and wand, but she didn't mean merely for those. He gave her a crooked, arrogant grin.

"You're our ickle Howler." He said.

"Only we are allowed to torment you." Fred added. Jack managed a smile as she tucked her wand into her robes.

"Maybe I'll throw another book at you, then." She saw George rub his nose as Fred laughed. It was strange, but, Jack found herself enjoying the short walk with the twins. The playful banter was interesting and different from her friendship with Dmitry and the girls. She decided that she would like to be friends with these insufferable twins, if they so allowed.

**That's all folks!**

**A not-so-short-note-and-explanation-from-the-author in other words, for your information:**

**Why is Jack so good at lying? She lives only with her father… Yeah, that should say it all xD She has grown up with her (rather immature) father and his friends who all thought of her as a 'darling little thing' when she had them all wrapped around her little finger.. I've seen it, it's real xD**

**Love rumors subject – before I get flame for putting this in their first and second week at Hogwarts, just remember when you were eleven… Oh the delicious gossip back then… It was unbearable! While Jack is annoyed by it, she simply isn't used to this kind of thing, as she was home schooled, Fred and George love it! It's their turn to shine! Remember, they come from a big family, they didn't get undivided attention from their parents.**

**Some things in my fic may resemble other Fred and George (or Marauder) fanfiction, I'm sorry, I simply can't help it! I've read sooooo many fanfictions, as I have been a member of this site for a long time xD**

**Looking forward to the reviews! And onto those:**

**Maiannaise: Glad you think so! I wasn't sure whether to put it there or not, but I figured that it fits her character rather well :) Hope you enjoyed!**

**Gingergryffindor: Well written? I'm blushing over here xD Thank you! Here's a rather quick update :) I'm currently in HP mode :D**

**Emma Hynes: Oh, yes, the Gary Stu…. They are rather dreadful… I try to keep all of that to a minimum, but some of it kind of comes out to say hello xD**

**I'm a very slow writer actually (because I hop from one fandom to another really fast and then circle around). I tend to post things here unfinished because I like to hear different opinions and critics. I still have my first stories up (which are horrible), but I wouldn't be here unless I took all those flames with class :D I'm looking forward to your story! If you need to bounce ideas with someone, I'm game :D Good luck writing!**

**Hmmmm Potter twin? Nope, no… I've read some of those stories, and they are very hard to write well… I don't have the skill to do something like that xD I'm having enough trouble as it is, with all the details here xD Most of the HP twin stories and up in a very bad case of Mary Sue, which, well… yeah… This site really pushes you to the limits of your creativity, doesn't it?**

**Look at me ramble on and on xD Hope you enjoyed! **

**HenriaSownbinder: Oh, I see :) I completely agree! I don't think that I'd have screamed, maybe flung the hat across the Hall? But, yeah xD Jack was quite terrified even before the hat incident, so she reacted like that xD**

**I'm so glad that you like my portrayal of the twins! I think that Jack really sees them as the Devils on Earth in the beginning, while they are simply having fun (and being two menaces, kudos to Mrs. Weasley!) I've seen one too many fics with them accepting the OC into their duo right away… That just isn't logical to me xD Besides, Jack isn't too good at pranking :P Hope you enjoyed this little development, too! :D**

**Unknown Girl: My dear guest, welcome to the family! I'm glad that you are enjoying the story so far :) Lee's book scene just wrote itself out and I'm rather content with it :D Jack finally got some backbone xD **


	5. Chapter 5

**Welcome, ladies and gents!**

**I know, been a while since I've updated, but I did warn about my irregular updates. So, I shall begin with giving thanks to:**

**Kr98, LocaMonkey24, matt-hardy-lover-101, dreaming of mermaids and lisabuer9 (I'm sorry, your username didn't come out last time) for the alerts! I'm humbled by your support!**

**ChibiCheshire and Simplewriting for the favs!**

**And of course Emma Hynes, Maiannaise, HenriaSownbinder and Unknown Girl for the wonderful reviews that keep me writing!**

**Enjoy!**

**ABBA – Take a Chance on Me (1978)**

She didn't know why she expected something to change the next morning. In fact, Jack got up early and headed towards the Owlery before sunrise. She evaded the bird droppings the best that she could on her way up, but they were rather unavoidable. Finally, Jack reached the top. Aras was sitting calmly on one of the branches, preparing to sleep. She liked to come in the morning. That way, she didn't disrupt her owl's sleeping rhythm. Jack walked over to the large bird and gently patted it. Aras raised his large, horned head and glared, as usual. He hooted at her in displeasure, but changed his mind when her small fingers started caressing his feathers.

"Let's go out there." Jack whispered, careful not to wake the other owls. She had done that once and it hadn't been pretty. They had chased her out with a flurry of sharp claws and beaks. Aras opened his wings lazily and took off into the air. In two slow flaps of his powerful wings, he landed on the stone railing outside. Jack walked over and pushed herself up onto it, too. Her small frame trembled on the edge, but she wasn't afraid of falling. Her father had always told her ' you shouldn't think about what if you fall, you should think about what if you fly'. Those words had stayed with her. She had always liked flying. No, not Quidditch. Flying. Just being up in the air. It made her feel truly magnificent, like a dragon.

She used to wish that she was a dragon, herself. Then, no one would dare touch her. Then, she would be free. Then, she would be unbeatable. Then, she would be able to protect all the wonderful people that she cared about. But, she had learned the cruel truth. Dragons weren't free. No, they were magnificent, monstrous creatures, kept in captivity, for the sake of wizardkind. For their selfish reasons of keeping their existence a secret from muggles, the wizards and witches suppressed dragons and kept them in inadequate spaces. They cared more about subduing those creatures and taking their valuable parts (ingredients for potions) then their actual wellbeing.

Jack had read a study that said that the dragons kept in captivity changed color. Their wings bent down, as they didn't need to fly to hunt any longer, and their scales became soft, as they didn't need them for protection anymore. Simply, it had sickened the small witch. A grounded dragon is a dead dragon. She knew that saying well. It was the cruel truth of those magnificent creatures.

"Hey, Aras. When do you think dad is going to write back?" She asked the bird, pushing the thoughts of dragons away for now. She couldn't do anything until she graduated. Jack looked down, legs dangling over the edge freely. She could see the outline of a patch of green grass under her feet and wondered just how far up she was. The wind was nice and strong there, blowing her short hair in every direction. Her robes were flying around madly, too. Aras hooted.

"I suppose he is busy with work." The small witch said. There was a moment of silence and then the first rays of sun broke against the school grounds. It was beautiful. Breathtaking. The forest lit up with fire. The biting autumn air warmed up instantly in the morning light. Jack smiled at it, shivering from the cold. Her fingers weren't moving properly and her nose and toes were completely frozen and ready to fall off. But, the small witch was happy.

"I wish I could fly." She said to Aras and he looked at her in confusion. For him, being grounded was unthinkable. For him, flying was like breathing. Jack loved to watch him fly. So, he spread his impressive wings and took off into the air, heading towards the rising sun.

X

Jack plopped down and filled her plate at the Gryffindor table. It was almost empty. A couple of third years were sitting all the way down from her and munching on their eggs. Jack looked for Charlie and the girls, but they weren't there. So, Jack settled down and took out a book (another one of Charlie's great recommendations). She piled some eggs and bacon onto her plate just in time. Nearlyheadless Nick appeared from under the table, going through the plate of bacon. He nodded to her and she greeted him politely.

She had thought about ghosts before coming to Hogwarts. They saddened her somehow. She remembered the first time she had seen a ghost. An old man, glistening like pure silver, had sat at the Quidditch stadium where her father coached. The ghost cheered and booed at the players, as they did things right or wrong. Jack remembers talking to him. He had been so sad. So lonely. He would go for days, years, without talking to anyone. Luckily, the ghosts at Hogwarts didn't seem too sad. They seemed happy with their state. Jack knew that she wanted to die without regrets. She didn't want to become a ghost and linger forever.

"Why the long face?" Asked Alicia as she dropped down next to Jack. The small witch put her book away and smiled at her friend.

"My face is perfectly normal." She told her friend. "Where's Angelina?" Jack asked, looking around. Alicia grabbed some eggs and poured home-made ketchup all over them. She gave a small shrug.

"She wouldn't get up." The dark haired girl said. Jack stared at her in disbelief and then shook her head. Hopefully, Angelina wouldn't freak out too much. But, she was a rather heavy sleeper. A rampaging troll wouldn't wake her if she was tired. "What's out first period?" Alicia managed to mumble through her food.

Jack frowned and wiped away the pieces that had fallen onto her face. "Potions." She replied making the other witch groan into her goblet. Nobody liked Potions. Well, nobody from Gryffindor. Professor Snape was one of those who took house rivalry seriously. He despised all Gryffindors that walked into his classroom with passion. The three girls dreaded the class. Especially Jack. Her knack for blowing things up had gotten her into trouble with the strict Professor more than once. In only two weeks. And they had Potions until fifth year. She was doomed unless they started using dragon ingredients.

The owls flew in, heading for their mail owners. One Barn owl flew towards the two girls, avoiding Jack's goblet by a millimeter. The girl in question grabbed it and drank some juice out of it, putting it on the other side of her plate this time. Alicia reached for the small pouch and took out the letter.

"It's addressed to me." She saw Jack's fallen face and gave her a comforting smile. "Don't worry, Jack. I'm sure your father will write back soon." The girl dropped some money into the owl's pouch and it flew away, leaving the two to open Alicia's mail. There was a letter, a copy of Daily Prophet and a Witch Weekly. Alicia took her letter right away and ripped it open.

"May I?" Asked Jack, pointing to the new copies and Alicia absentmindedly nodded, smiling at her letter. Jack felt the pit in her stomach grow, but she pushed the sensation away and opened the Daily Prophet. She skipped through it to the sports page right away and gave a small smile at the title. 'New player brings the Ballycastle bats back into the spotlight!'. Jack read the short text once. And then once more. Then, she placed the newspaper back on the table and resumed her meal in a much better mood. Her father hadn't commented for the Prophet, but, he had been mentioned by the Ballycastle's Captain, Sherwood.

Charlie appeared on Jack's right side, piling things onto his plate. Jack didn't turn to him or greet him. He was probably tired from night patrol. The small witch noticed cream cheese in the middle of the table and stretched to get it at the same time as Charlie. He was faster.

"Finders keepers." Told her the boy. Wait. Wrong voice. Jack turned to see one of the twins grinning at her. She scrunched up her nose and stuck her finger into his side, making him yelp and loosen his grip on the cheese bowl. She grabbed it, as if she was playing Seeker in a Quidditch World Cup.

"Losers weepers." Jack retorted, feeling proud of herself. She plopped down and spread the cheese across her toast with her knife. The twin nursed his side and sat down as well.

"I think we've tickled a sleeping dragon, Gred." The other twin sat across from them, Lee soon joining him.

"It would seem so, Forge." Replied the one sitting next to her. Jack turned to him and grinned. She passed him the bowl. The twin took it, cautiously. Jack kept grinning as she turned to her breakfast and continued eating. She didn't notice the twins exchange glances of pure joy.

Something cold and wet slid down her back, under her robe. Jack gave a squeak and jumped up. She looked around, only to the twin in front of her with his wand drawn. He was smirking smugly. Lee was rolling on the floor with laughter (Her face! Did you see her face?!). One look to her right showed the other Weasley catching the, now empty, levitating bowl.

"Oh Merlin." Alicia muttered through her giggles from Jack's left. The small witch returned her gaze to the twin sitting opposite of her. She gave him an I-am-not-amused look.

"Nice levitation spell." She told him, voice dripping in sarcasm.

"Thanks." The twins chorused, grinning, and she noticed the one sitting next to her putting his wand back into his robes. Lee kept snickering into his plate until the end of breakfast. Jack refused to go change.

X

Just as the unlikely Gryffindor group was leaving the Great Hall, the Head if their house stopped them.

"Mr. Weasley, Mr. Weasley and Miss Kni- by the name of Circe! Dear girl, what happened to you?" McGonagall exclaimed, inspecting the cream cheese that Jack had stubbornly left to stain her robes. The girl in question blushed and looked down, ignoring the cackling twins. McGonagall didn't.

"Weasley!" Her voice silenced the group, making the twins jump, as if struck by a whip. They looked at her, grinning identical grins.

"Yes?" They chorused, but their eyes showed their guilt. McGonagall seemed to hesitate for a second, making the boys become smug, but then she glared. And when she glared, you'd better run.

"Detention!" She told them, enraged, taking out her wand to vanish the cream cheese with a simple 'evanesco'.

The twins gaped at her in disbelief. They hadn't even served out their first detention! "Professor?" Spoke up Lee. McGonagall turned to him next, still fuming. "We were just practicing Charms, Professor." The group all nodded in agreement. McGonagall took a deep breath.

"I suppose that detention won't be necessary then." She paused, making the twins release a breath of relief. " But, that doesn't excuse your former actions. You still have three weeks of detention." She looked at the twins pointedly. "And you, Miss Knight-" McGonagall turned to Jack. "A week. I expect you in my office tonight at seven. Don't be late." With that, the stern woman left.

"Bollocks!" Exclaimed one of the twins loudly. "Thanks, mate." He turned and told Lee. The boy in question gave them both a grin.

Jack shook her head and headed to Potions. "You two really need to learn how to lie properly."

X

Jack plopped down into her seat for DADA. She was dead tired. Her fingers felt like lead. Like numb, cold lead. Snape had made them copy the book, word for word, because they 'were inadequately mentally equipped' for his subject. She had found out, after copying the instructions to making Cure for Boils at least ten times, that there were no potions in first year that had any dragon ingredients. The closest you got to a lizard was salamander. This saddened her.

Her father wasn't a great potion-maker, but, he had cooked an occasional one or two in their basement grumpily. There, the small witch had first touched dragon blood. And then she had cried for ages while holding the tiny crimson bottle with a dragon's head. Her father had ended up telling her how it was not blood from a dead, murdered dragon, but from a live, completely well, one. He had taken her and sat down (completely forgetting the potion) and told her about the dragon keepers, and how they safely take some blood from a dragon for potions. He had pinched her then and told her that that's exactly how much it hurt a dragon to give that blood to them. Then, Jack had stopped crying. She had ended up brewing the whole potion on her own, with just a little help from her father. And, of course, deciding that she would, too, become a dragon keeper, much to her father's displeasure.

"Good afternoon, class." Professor Vasilescu spoke. The class slowly stopped talking and took their seats. The tall Professor walked to her desk, not really caring that the class hadn't answered her greeting. She was a slim, pale woman. Jack hadn't believed her eyes when she had first seen the Professor. She looked so fragile, so delicate, like at a mere touch she would break into thousands of pieces. Her eyes were like liquid strength, though. They were a deep brown, standing out against her overall pale demeanor, and they silenced the room and demanded attention. Professor Vasilescu was one of those Professors, like Snape or McGonagall, she simply demanded order without much effort in a classroom.

"Have you finished your homevork?" Her accent was distinctly present in her speech. The 'r's were strong, like in Russian and her 'w's all became 'v's. "Put them on my desk." She instructed and then headed to the back office. Jack pulled out her parchment and headed to turn it in, pushing against the other students to get there. There was a bit of a scuffle, but the small witch managed to drop her two rolls onto the desk and headed back. When she sat down, she noticed Alicia sitting in the previously unoccupied space next to her. Jack looked around.

"Where's Angelina?" Usually, it was Alicia and Angelina that sat together. Jack didn't mind sitting with random people. That meant less talking and more paying attention. Alicia gave a small smile.

"I wanted to sit next to you." She replied easily. "Ange is in the back with Lee and the twins." And with that, the dark haired witch began flipping through her book. Jack felt something warm bubble in her chest. She had friends. She had real-life school friends. She was so glad that she had come to Hogwarts!

"Class, move desks to the valls. Ve have a practical lesson today." Said Professor Vasilescu, returning from the back and carrying four large pillows. She walked to the middle of the classroom, which was slowly getting cleared of desks and chairs and dropped them. "Those who have moved their desks, may join me in bringing the pillovs out."

Jack found herself helping Alicia push the desk towards the wall rather slowly. The dark haired witch cursed under her breath, pushing so hard her face went a bit red. Suddenly, the desk moved faster, mush easier, causing the two girls to bump into it awkwardly when it hit the stone wall. They turned to see that a boy from Hufflepuff had helped them out. With a smile and a nod, he went to join his friends once again. Jack and Alicia exchanged glances (those sneaky kind that usually Alicia and Angelina did), and the latter smiled knowingly, causing her friend to stare at her weirdly.

"Great!" Professor Vasilescu rolled her 'r' heavily. "Nov! All gather here. Don't push. And, divide into pairs." As soon as those words left her mouth, everyone began pushing, turning to different people, trying to find their friends, etc. Jack turned to Alicia immediately, only to see the Hufflepuff from before talking to her. She looked at the two for a second, before a light bulb went off in her head. Then, she turned around, feeling her cheeks go red. Jack had a rather uncomfortable sensation in her stomach, like she had interrupted something delicate. She looked around stiffly, searching for someone to practice with. It was during these moments that she realized just how few friends she actually had. Sure, it was the beginning of the year, her first year, but her friends already had other friends. Maybe she was doing something wrong?

"Want to practice with me?" Asked someone from behind Jack. She turned to see a Hufflepuff boy. Somehow, he looked familiar to her. After a second of looking at him with a scrunched up nose, she remembered. He was the boy who had asked her one of those ridiculous rumor questions!

"Sure." The small witch replied awkwardly. Jack turned to him and drew her wand in a swift motion. Seeing him flinch at the movement, the girl gave a smile. "I'm not going to jinx you or anything." The boy chuckled hesitantly.

"O-of course. I just thought- Well, I did ask you a rude question back then and-" He began and Jack realized that he was attempting to apologize. Her smile widened, suddenly at ease.

"It doesn't matter." Jack interrupted. "It's not the worst I've heard, believe me." She laughed it off and the boy joined in. Professor Vasilescu kept instructing in the background (Flipendo! Keep your vands steady! They are not Beater bats, they are vands!).

"I'm Scott Lawrence. It's nice to meet you." The boy spoke, ignoring the Professor. He drew his wand, too, seeming a bit more confident.

Jack nodded. "I'm Jack-"

"Knight." He interrupted with a smile, now. He had a rather nice smile, kind of shy in a way. "You're rather famous, you know. Being the Scarlet Dragon's daughter and all that." He noticed the scrunched nose and corrected himself right away. "But that doesn't matter. Who cares who your parents are. Me, I'm muggle-born. My parents don't know anything about this world at all. When I got my letter, they freaked." The boy, Scott, rambled on. Jack gave him another smile and he went quiet, blushing. "Sorry, I talk a lot."

"That's alright." Jack supplied, extending her hand to him for a handshake. He took it. "So do I." His hand was warm and his grip was tight. It was a good, confident handshake. Jack shook his hand vigorously. "We're going to be great friends!" Jack exclaimed excitedly. Scott nodded, a bit baffled by the change in her demeanor.

"Sure." He answered. Jack let go of his hand and stepped back a bit, aiming to be near the pillows.

"Shall we?" The small witch asked.

"Ladies first." Said Scott, smiling politely at her and Jack pointed her wand at him. She focused, her nose scrunching and eyes narrowing. The movement of her wand was automatic, like they had practiced during the last class.

"Flipendo!" Jack yelled firing her spell.

X

Jack walked across the Great Hall, ignoring the stares of the Gryffindors and Slytherins alike as she plopped down next to Dmitry casually. He looked to the side and gave a small, almost arrogant, smirk.

"How has your day been so far, Jaqueline?" Asked the Russian, continuing his meal. Jack grabbed a plate and started piling food onto it. She caught Ward's eye and gave him a happy grin and a small wave. He frowned, as if something very foul had just been placed under his nose.

"Just Jack, Miti. Just Jack." Replied the witch and started putting obscene amounts of food into her mouth. The boy gave her a look, but she ignored it.

"I wonder if your family ever taught you table manners?" Asked the Russian, flicking a piece of her meat off his plate back onto hers. He proceeded to eat tiny bites, as if he was dining with the Minister of Magic himself.

"Dey 'ave." Jack mumbled through her food and then swallowed. "I just don't like to use those particular skills in your presence, Your Excellency." The witch mocked, piling more mashed potatoes onto her plate. Dmitry snorted and then his cheeks reddened, once he realized that he had gone along with Jack's pace.

"You are a horrendous influence, Jaqueline. What would mother say?" Dmitry asked, his icy eyes watching her with mirth. Jack looked up from her plate, ignoring the full name, and gave him a food-full grin.

"I think she would tell you to marry me right away, love." The witch fired back.

"Splendid, my dear. Just marvelous."

X

_Dear Pa,_

_I was a little disappointed not to get a reply, but, I figured you were busy, so I decided to write to you once again. I saw the interview that the Daily Prophet did with Captain Sherwood. He said that you did amazingly well in the qualification round! I wish you all the best! Does the new player, Webley, really fly like a Thunderbird? I saw the picture of her playing, she seems amazing!_

_Anyways, I decided that I love Hogwarts in the end. I have made some new friends. A boy from Hufflepuff named Scott Lawrence. He was very rude at first, but he is nice now. I have some classes with him. Today, in DADA, I practiced the Knockback jinx with him. I got the spell right almost ten times! It was amazing!_

_The classes are great! And a little scary, to be honest. Dmitry is helping me with Potions, he is great at that. And I promised to practice flying with him, because he gets really sick when he tries. He vomited during the last class. It was horribly amusing, but I didn't laugh. I even hexed one of the boys from Slytherin that laughed. I didn't get caught either._

_Transfiguration is awesome, but I suck at it. Hopefully, I'll get better. One of the Evil Twins, who aren't that evil, is really good with that class. I think I might be able to persuade him to help me out. If I don't get better soon, I think Professor McGonagall might toss me off of the Astronomy Tower. I'm doing well in Charms, I like the subject. I need some time to learn how to do the spells properly, but I'm doing good. Astronomy is pretty boring, but I think that I will manage._

_Fred and George Weasley (the Not-Too-Evil Twins) haven't been picking on me too much. They are pranking everyone now, rather than just me. I think that that's just the way they are. They can't help it. They can't lie very well, though. They are too cocky and look too guilty. I think I want to become friends with them. They seem fun._

_Herbology is useful, but I tend to talk to my friends a bit too much during it. Last time, the Venomous Tentacula almost got Angelina. However, Professor Sprout stopped it before it could do any real harm. Now, she has moved it into the other garden so it doesn't bother us as we work. I won't even talk about History of Magic. You already know everything._

_So, that's all from me. I just had a free period and we went to the Black Lake and sat there and talked. I learned so much about Angelina and Alicia! I'm so glad that I met them. I think that I will ask them to come to one of the Ballycastle's trainings during summer. If that's possible, of course. Angelina is a big fan and Alicia is great at Quidditch!_

_I finished dinner early so that I could send this to you. I hope that you are well and that this letter finds you. Aras is doing great. He has been sleeping in the Owlery and spending some part of the day with me. He is getting more and more reliable with mail and doesn't try and hurt me when he's moody anymore._

_I watch every sunrise with Aras from the Owlery, thinking of you,_

_I love you the most,_

_Your favorite midget, _

_Jack_

**That's all folks!**

**No note – can you believe it! Straight onto the reviews!**

**Emma Hynes: In a fantasy setting (especially anime and manga) it's actually quite hard to avoid Mary Sue and Gary Stus, which is kind of annoying. I actually checked out your profile, but still haven't gotten around to reading anything (You will know when I do, I review a lot xD). I'm a huge Kol fan, but I prefer Bulozic as the actor, I suppose… So I'm not following the series anymore xD**

**Yep, I get bursts of joy when I write like an idiot and then flutter away, abandoning the story… The reviews always make me come back though… I can't help it xD I have some scenes in my head, but mostly I allow a minimal plot with the story unfolding on the whim of that day… For example, this chapter shouldn't have ended with a letter, and it did xD**

**I feel your pain… I'm rather buried under my college paper load and have no idea what to do first… Hopefully, it's going to vanish or something… Hehehe~ Anyways, Dragon was planned for a while. He is simply hilarious to me… I wanted to experiment with a playboy-turned-father and I think it's been going quite well so far. Unfortunately, I won't be writing that letter here, I leave that to your imagination, but there will be some McGonagall – Dragon interaction, so, you will be able to see how he acts.**

**I'm glad that you like that bullying part… I figured it was going to have to come up somewhere, with her sitting with Dmitry and having a rather famous father. I didn't want Fred and George to save her, but it was needed for relationship development.**

**Jack can lie. Oh yeah, she can lie like hell is loose. Her father and his friends were simply perfect targets… There will be more talk about her and the twins. I don't think that Fred and George really care if they get caught or not xD It's more about the thrill and the success of the prank for them.**

**I listen to the old stuff (and a lot of the new songs, too) so staying in the 80s isn't too hard, music wise. It's the when the song came out that I have to pay attention to :P**

**Hope you enjoyed and thank you for the long review!**

**Maiannaise: Well, we need to give them some credit, right? They are rather brilliant :D Hope you liked the chapter :)**

**HenriaSownbinder: I'm glad you enjoyed! I'm glad that you are able to get into my story in that way :D I do the same with some of the stories that I've read. I've cried my eyes out to fanfictions more than once xD**

**Yeah, Jack being bullied by an older student was a bit out there, but I've seen such things (unfortunately). And, these are Slytherins that we're talking about, they use sneaky methods :) **

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Unknown Girl: Thank you for the compliment! I'm not too bad at writing, I suppose. But, I've had a lot of practice and some really great critics (brutal flames more like) in the beginning, so I had to improve. Hope you enjoyed! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Welcome, ladies and gents! (are there any gents here?)**

**Let me give thanks to: TheMidnightPoet and scarletXshad0w for the favs! I hope you keep enjoying the story! :D**

**Also: Paddy and Moony's Angel and bmemzie for the alerts! Welcome to the family :)**

**For my wonderful reviewers! HenriaSownbinder, Unknown Girl and Emma Hynes, you guys are amazing! :D Thank you so much!**

**The chapter is actually around 4k words, the rest are reviews xD Don't get too excited about the 'longer' chapter xD**

**Now, enjoy!**

**AC/DC – Highway to Hell (1979)**

Time seemed to fly and Jack soon found herself leaving Angelina and Alicia to do their homework alone and headed towards McGonagall's office. She had managed to do almost half of the paper that Snape had given them, which was saying something. Angelina was having problems with Astronomy charts. Jack understood. But, after drawing dragon anatomy diagrams, a couple of planets weren't too hard to doodle into the map.

She got lost on her way to the Professor's office only once, which was a new record and knocked on the door. After a soft 'come in' Jack entered, closing the door politely behind her. She saw McGonagall sitting at her desk, reading papers.

"Good evening, Professor." Jack greeted politely and sat on one of the chairs in front of the desk. McGonagall looked up, taking in the small girl's state. There was an ink stain on her sleeve and a spot where she had probably rubbed her nose, leaving the bluish liquid behind.

"Good evening, Miss Knight." The Professor answered, her words kind somehow. They comforted Jack and suddenly, she wasn't too afraid of this detention. She had been. She didn't like getting in trouble.

Another silence ensued. The only sound in the room was the slow sound of sand slipping into the lower part of the large hourglass behind McGonagall. Jack sat there, looking around as the Professor scratched an occasional correction onto someone's paper. The twins were late. A soft fluttering sound came from the window and Jack whipped around, only to be disappointed when she saw a flock of bats rushing away. Staring outside for a moment longer, the girl gave up and returned her gaze to the Professor's quill. It was moving like a soldier on a mission, occasionally jumping into the ink bottle.

The door burst open and the twins entered with identical grins, panting slightly. "Mr. Weasley, Mr. Weasley." McGonagall addressed them, her lips in a thin line. "How nice of you to join us." The twins looked to the floor and hurried to take seats next to Jack, but the Professor stopped them. "Let me show you to your assignment." McGonagall took her wand out and waved across her desk, the papers vanishing. She stepped around it and headed out, her students following her.

The walk down the many corridors was silent for Jack, but not for the boys. They were walking behind her, snickering about one thing or another gleefully. They came to a stop at an unknown classroom. Professor McGonagall opened it swiftly and walked in like it was her own. The three followed slowly, Jack cautiously and the twins lagging because of their conversation.

"You will be serving out your detention here tonight." Told them the Professor. She looked to the trio, noticing the talking twins. "Mr. George Weasley, you will stay here and work with Miss Knight. Mr. Fred Weasley, you will be helping me." Said the woman finally and walked towards the door. "No magic." She extended her hand, taking all three of their wands (the twins were reluctant as they gave theirs away). And then she and one redhead left.

The other twin entered the room, closing the door behind him. He whistled. "This looks like it hasn't been used for centuries!" He exclaimed, looking around. Truly, the room was ghastly. It was a classroom, that much was clear, but it was is ruins. The tables were old, falling apart. There was dust everywhere, along with some pretty impressive cobwebs. Jack scrunched her nose at the sight. It would be a lot of work.

"Bloody Hell…" Exclaimed George. "McGonagall is really pissed at us." He said, sighing. Jack nodded, agreeing. She looked around and saw the couple of mops and buckets in the corner. This was going to be hell, she thought.

"Let's move the furniture to one side first." The small witch said and headed towards the closest desk. As soon as she pushed it, the desk pushed back, throwing her to the floor. George turned at her yell, surprised. Jack pushed herself up, the wind knocked out of her. She hadn't been expecting the desk to fight back.

"Are you alright?" The twin caught her arm as she swayed and she looked up, nodding. He gave her a grin and let go. "Scratch my previous statement." He turned to the offending desk. "This is going to be a blast!" And the twin charged at the desk, laughing like a maniac.

X

Of course, battling with the furniture took some time in the end. Without magic, moving a shoving desk and a biting chair was a challenge. However, the two managed to move at least seven of the twenty desks. Jack had mopped up that part of the floor and now, they were sitting in the window, resting. Thankfully, the windows and walls didn't seem enchanted. Yet. Jack noticed a large bite on the twin's hand and reached for it. He jumped a bit when she suddenly touched him with her, icy from the cleaning, hands.

"Let me see." She demanded pulling the hand. The redhead gave her a cocky grin, letting her take his hand. She turned it around, noticing that the chair had gotten him good. A piece of wood was stuck in the wound and she squinted at it.

"I couldn't get that one out." George said. "They're very nasty when they bite." He laughed it off, causing Jack to stare. Sure, she liked her fair share of gore and tragic, but she wasn't into self-harm. This guy was either stupidly brave, or insane, she figured. Shaking her head, Jack scrunched up her nose, focusing on the sliver.

"I have smaller fingers." She told him and then attempted to get it out, causing him to wince. "Who's the Howler now?" She murmured into her chin with triumph as George released a yelp.

"There's only one Howler in this school everyone knows who it is." Shot back the twin. "Our ickle Howler!" He ruffled her short hair with absolute glee and Jack looked up, pausing in her attempts to get the wood out. Something was off. She had noticed it in the beginning, but until now, she hadn't been sure. He was too cocky, too loud, too obnoxious. And, he had just called her 'ickle Howler'.

"You're not George, are you?" The twin kept grinning, but his eyes flashed with something. Something like shock and fear?

"No, silly. I'm George." He laughed at her, throwing his head back in mirth. "Fred went with McGonagall." Jack didn't believe him. When he denied it, she could see his guilt. The twins always looked guilty when they lied. She supposed that their mother had raised them that way. But, it made her job easier.

"No, you're Fred." The small witch retorted, adamant. "George went with McGonagall." He laughed, shaking his head.

"Think what you want." He shrugged, an angry look on his face suddenly, despite the smile. "It's not like anyone bothers to figure out who is who." Then he turned to her, his eyes were guarded, like something he hadn't meant to say had just slipped out. She had noticed that, too. The twins were always smiling. Always. It was slightly scary and unnerving, as you couldn't tell what they were up to. But, their eyes betrayed them. Their identical brown eyes truly were the windows to their soul. They moved, looking at different things, flickering with emotion, showing Jack how the boys were feeling.

"I've decided." She said, going back to digging out the wood from his hand. "You're Fred." Another moment of silence passed where neither spoke. Jack was simply focused on her task and the twin was tossing various thoughts around in his head. "A-ha!" The small witch exclaimed, smiling brightly in triumph and turning to the boy. She showed him the piece of wood. "It's mine!" She giggled and jumped off the window seat, turning to the rest of the classroom with her hands of her hips. "Back to work!"

Jack headed towards one of the desks, armed with a mop. The twin sat for a moment longer, laughing when the piece of furniture tossed the girl away with its leg. His ears were red. It was rare to find someone so blunt. Jack was straightforward in everything that she did, be it a lie or a truth, he had noticed that. No wonder Charlie hung out with the strange first year. But, the Weasley hadn't seen Jack smile like that before. He had seen her frown and give an evil grin or a small smile, but never this. This had been an honest expression of pure joy. And for such a small thing.

"Ow!" Jack exclaimed, getting thrown back once again. She glared at the desk from the floor and jumped up. This time, with a war-cry, she ran at the desk, raising her mop as if it were some kind of a sword. The piece of furniture tried to whack her away, but she wouldn't give. The twin laughed at her expression of concentration as she managed to push the desk from its spot on her own. He jumped and hurried to her, evading a malicious table leg, and kicked the other one, making the table move once more.

"You're right." The twin panted once they pushed the desk all the way to the wall. Jack gave him a weird look. He gave a shake of his head. Talk about short attention span. "I am Fred." Jack nodded heading towards the chairs.

"I know." Then she stopped and turned back to look at him suspiciously. "Why are you telling me this?" When the twin, Fred not George, looked at her, she noticed his red ears, but didn't comment.

"Just felt like it." He explained, heading to the chairs, following her. Jack ignored the boy now. She stuck a book into the mouth that had opened on the chair and then carried it to the desk in the corner. Fred brought the other one in the same fashion. Jack left him there and went to the other desk right away. He sighed. "Look, we switch a lot. It's a game, alright? It has nothing to do with you." The boy was getting mad, now. Why was he even explaining them to her? She was just some girl! Jack looked up at him with her silvery eyes, freezing him in his spot.

"So, you think that it feels nice to be pranked?" She asked, her voice rising. "You think that being picked on is nice?" She was in his face now, her poking his chest with her finger repeatedly. It hurt. "Well, I didn't think that school would be like this! I thought that I would have friends! And have fun! And be good in my subjects! And graduate just like my dad, among the top of my class!" She angrily wiped the tears away from her eyes before they could fall. Why was she always crying in front of this prick? "I've been bullied! And why? I have no idea! I haven't done anything wrong!" With the last sentence she actually punched the boy in front of her. Rather weakly, but she did.

A few moment of dead, awkward silence passed. Fred slowly raised his hand to rub the sore spot on his chest. The girl was a beast when challenged. She was staring at the floor now, torn between anger and sadness.

"If it's any consolation, we didn't switch to pick on you." He told her quietly, but she didn't react. Fred didn't look at her. She wasn't fun this way. She always took their jokes and pranks with dignity and maturity. She yelled, she fought back, but she never cried. She simply hadn't been a girly girl. Those weren't fun. Jack was. She was amusing. But not now. Now, she was pitiful and boring. But, Fred didn't like seeing her this way, because he was one of the people that had made her this way.

The twin sighed slowly and then took her icy hand and pulled her to the window, making her sit on the stone. Jack obliged, but she didn't speak. "It started when our mother couldn't tell us apart, she still can't really." Fred smiled at the memory. "We began telling that we were the other twin just for kicks. Then, our siblings gave up on trying to tell us apart. They would just call out a name and expect the right one to answer." Jack looked at him and Fred could tell that she was listening with full attention. "Now, it's a game that George and I play. We switched during the Sorting, too." He grinned at the gasp that Jack gave. She didn't seem too sad now. Then, the witch giggled.

"You two really are evil." Fred smirked.

"Oh, I heard that nickname for us. The Evil Twins." He watched her face go red in amusement. "Then again, we have many more. The Handsome Gryffindor Lions duo, for example." Jack laughed fully now.

"That's not a real nickname." She told him.

"It is." Fred defended.

"It's not."

"Is too."

"I'm not playing that with you."

"Aweeee." The twin comically frowned, getting another laugh from her. Jack extended her hand to him now, causing Fred to give her a weird look, but take it.

"Will you be my friend?" Jack asked, sniffling a bit. Fred stared. Was she serious? Her hopeful expression told him that she was. You really had to be blunt with this one, didn't you?

"I thought we already were?" He told her causing confusion to spread on her face.

"How?" Jack asked, curious now. Fred almost face-palmed.

"Never mind." He told her. "Friends." And Jack gleefully shook his hand, like it was the greatest achievement of her week. She scrunched her nose at him.

"How many siblings have you got?"

X

By the time McGonagall opened the door to tell them that they were done for the night both Jack and Fred were ready to fall over. George looked to be in similar condition, as he was holding his right hand gingerly. Jack gave him a weird look, but the boy didn't notice it, as he was staring at his twin. The small witch looked between the two. They almost seemed to be talking with their eyes.

"You will continue tomorrow. My office, same time. Don't be late." McGonagall warned, looking at the twins pointedly. Then, she handed them each their wand and left. The three started walking towards the Gryffindor tower, neither in the mood for talking.

At some point, Jack wondered out loud. "I wonder who's the idiot that charmed those desks and chairs?" She looked to the twins to notice them exchange guilty looks without a word. "It was you two?!" The girl screeched, stopping. She stared at them in disbelief as they snickered.

"Good prank, right?" Said one, Jack couldn't tell them apart at all now.

"We even got the dust and cobwebs." Continued the other.

"Not to mention the cupboards."

"The board."

"The chalk is my favorite."

"Oooh! That one is brilliant!" Confirmed his brother.

"But, why are they so old?" Jack interrupted them. She didn't doubt that they could do that for hours.

"Who is?" Asked one twin.

"The desks and the chairs." Clarified the witch. "The classroom looked like it hadn't been used in ages." The twins grinned at each other proudly and then told her.

"Spell." Said one.

"Not a simple one, either." Jack shook her head.

"If you applied just a bit more of your genius to your studies you guys would do brilliantly in class." The girl commented, causing the two to laugh.

"Class is boring, ickle Howler."

"Why write about spells-"

"when you can-"

"actually use them?" The two were looking at her, smiling identically. But, she knew now. The one further away from her was Fred. He always called her Howler.

Jack shrugged. "Because with good grades you'll get a good job?" George turned to give her an incredulous look.

"We don't want a boring job in the Ministry, silly." He shook his head, like he couldn't believe that she had even suggested that. "We're going to open a joke shop, you see. Like Zonko's, but better."

Jack laughed. "Better than Zonko's? Impossible!"

"What do you even know about Zonko's?" Said George, now getting into her face as they walked. Jack glared right back, her nose scrunched in anger.

"Well, if you must know, my father went to Hogwarts!" She fired back. "He told me all about Hogsmeade, naturally." She was bluffing. She'd heard some things, but not nearly all. She remembered that the twins had three elder brothers. They probably knew more than she did. But, she wasn't going to let them win!

George laughed, throwing his head back. "Well-" He paused for dramatic effect. "That was a long time ago." He grinned like he had just won. "We are-"

"Shhhh!" Fred suddenly caught his brother's arm in a vice grip, stopping the group. Jack and George exchanged confused glances. The boy looked at his twin. Fred was watching the dark corridor behind them with full concentration. His body was tense, and immediately, George became tense, too, sensing his twin's discomfort.

"What's wrong, Freddie?" The boy whispered, turning also. It simply seemed appropriate. Suddenly, the first years became aware of the dark and the silence. The portraits were quiet, asleep. There was no one in the corridor. Just them. It was late. Way past their curfew. There was dead silence for a moment longer. Then, Fred replied.

"Can't you hear that?" He whispered right back and the other two found themselves listening intently for any kind of sound. Then, they almost jumped when they heard it. A scratching in the deep. Almost like someone dragging their fingernails all over the wooden doors as they passed. Scratching, silence, silence, and then scratching once more.

Jack grabbed George's warm hand unashamedly. She felt him shiver when the next scratch dragged down the corridor towards them. Silence ensued and the three stood still, frozen and trying not to breathe. Seconds seemed like hours. And every single, tiny movement sounded like a lions roar in their ears. The three first years exchanged glances, ranging from worry, to frozen expectation and pure fear. The silence continued. And then another scratch, only, it was close. It sounded like it was right there, a couple of feet in front of them.

Jack gasped, as if breathing in water. George let go of Fred's arm and the twins turned away from the sound in a flash, their minds thinking the same.

"Run!" Fred yelped, not looking back to see what was scratching in the darkness behind them. The other two obliged a bit too happily. Jack's grip on George's arm was like an icy metal cuff, and she never let go. He, in return, kept pulling her, as she was a bit slower, due to her short legs.

A long scratch down a window sounded behind them, but a little further away, causing the twins to exchange a meaningful glance and turn into a corridor that Jack had never been in before. She didn't care anymore. She didn't care if they got lost. She didn't care if Filch caught them. She just didn't want whatever was behind them to gain on them.

"This way!" George pulled her left suddenly and seemingly into the wall. Jack realized that it was actually a tiny passage, leading them zigzag through the walls. She allowed her ears to focus on what was behind them, trying to hear the noise again. It wasn't there. She didn't tell them to stop, though. She wanted to feel the safety and the warm fire of the Gryffindor common room now.

"Almost there!" Fred panted and suddenly, they were in a corridor that Jack recognized. She pushed her legs even more, seeing the Fat Lady's portrait. It was like the light at the end of the tunnel for her. They rushed towards it, all three panting.

"Audaces fortuna iuvat!" Fred whisper-yelled at the sleeping woman. She stirred a bit, but didn't wake. George moved a bit forward, panting from the long run up the tower and almost shouted.

"Audaces fortuna iuvat!" The Fat Lady stirred and looked up, glaring at them right away. She yawned, making a big show out of waking up.

"I should leave you out here for the rest of the night for being late for curfew, you know." She complained.

"Audaces fortuna iuvat." Jack squeaked in a tiny voice. The Fat Lady looked at her, feeling pity once she saw the pale and sweaty, obviously scared first years, she opened her portrait.

"Don't be late next time." She grumbled as they climbed into the portrait hole. "Probably got lost. Oh, these new generations. I remember-" And the portrait closed, cutting the rest of her words off.

The three first years, shaking from their unwanted exercise, threw themselves onto the empty sofa and chairs by the dying fire. They sat in silence for a moment, feeling safe in the Gryffindor tower. Jack could feel her hands like ice and her legs shaking with the adrenaline. It was like she had just run a whole marathon.

"What the bloody Hell was that?" George asked once he caught his breath. He was rubbing the place on his arm where Jack had held onto him. The little thing had the grip of an insulted hippogriff. He was probably going to have a bruise tomorrow.

"No idea." Replied his twin. Fred was staring at the fire, like it had all the answers in the world. Another moment of silence ensued.

"If you two were playing a prank on me-" Jack began after her voice steadied a bit. Fred gave her a look of disbelief and George interrupted her.

"Don't you reckon we wouldn't be running for our lives, too?" He asked, giving her a mean look.

"I never know what to expect with you two." Jack mumbled, now avoiding their eyes and looking at her shaking hands in her lap. The terrifying scratching was still ringing in her ears. George shook his head.

"Even we aren't that evil, Knight." Jack managed to give him a disbelieving look. Fred laughed weakly.

"She thinks we're the embodiment of evil, Gred." George attempted to return the smile, but it looked more like a painful grimace. Obviously, he was, too, shaking from all the adrenaline that had been in his veins.

"That we are, Forge." The twin replied, locking eyes with his brothers. They seemed to be having one of their eye conversations and Jack was fine with simply sitting there, not asking questions. Her legs were slowly going numb now, but the trembling had lessened. The small witch stared ahead, not really seeing anything. At some point, she snapped out of it, realizing that she had been staring at Fred's shoes like they were the most interesting thing in the world.

"What was that?" She repeated George's question after she had gone through her mental list of magical creatures and their properties. She had also considered pranks, professors, ghosts (Peeves) and a couple other things. However, her mind was still drawing a blank.

Fred shook his head, breaking eye contact with George finally. The other twin shrugged. They sat for a while longer in silence. None of them really wanted to talk about it. They couldn't explain it. They couldn't even think of something to guess. They simply sat, numb, enjoying the comfort of the crackling fire and the safety of the common room.

"Do you reckon we should tell McGonagall?" Jack tried once more to find the most logical way out of the situation. The twins turned to her.

"Are you mental?" Fred asked.

"She already hates us enough!" Complained George.

"What are you going to say anyway?"

"Something chased us in the dark, scratching walls as it went?"

Jack shook her head. It sounded stupid and unbelievable, even to her. "Alright, that was a stupid idea." She admitted. "Any better ones?" The twins nodded.

"We shut up about it." They chorused. Jack looked to the floor and then slowly nodded, agreeing. Suddenly she smiled and then chuckled. It was like something warm and bubbly spread through her and she looked at George with wide eyes extending her hand. The boy reluctantly took it, not really knowing what she wanted.

"Wanna be friends?" Jack asked, studying his face. George glances at Fred, having one of their short eye conversations. Then, he answered.

"Totally." And shook her hand enthusiastically. Jack grinned, not letting of George's warm hand. She looked from one to the other twin excitedly.

"I have a secret now!" She told them. "I have a secret! With friends!" And she kept shaking George's hand, causing the twins to exchange another glance and then grin, too.

"You sure do." Said Fred as George shook her hand even harder, like it was a contest.

**That's all folks! **

**I hope you enjoyed!**

**So, I noticed that I mixed up the Gred and Forge in the last chapter, I corrected that. I know that I really went into detail here with this detention, it wasn't planned, but I didn't want to write for ages, so I decided to end it here… I just need some time to build their relationship.**

**Onto the reviews!**

**HenriaSownbinder: I know what you mean… I have younger half siblings and cousins, so I saw that they were getting bullied and reacted… I remember that I also had some problems with that (cause I was weird when I was younger, too), but I was rather oblivious to the bullying… And I retorted a lot, so I wasn't an easy target xD It's horrible, though. Bullying is something that needs to be regulated at schools, which is not happening a lot… (At least over here)**

**I'm glad that you enjoy my work :D Sorry to disappoint, Jack isn't ready to really prank anyone yet. She doesn't know how. Her father is more of a 'food fight!' kind of a guy, rather than a 'plot and scheme' kind of a person, so she didn't get to learn it… She will though… Besides, she's struggling with herself, to prank or not to prank? She has a side that is telling her to be a good student, and then she has a side that loves danger… We'll see which wins… I'm trying to keep the clichés at a minimum (even though I also adore them xD)**

**All the best!**

**Unknown girl: I'm glad that you think so :D I mean, I've read so many stories from amazing authors on fanfiction, I didn't mean that I was bad or anything. I just have room for improvement :)**

**Inkheart is an amazing story! If you thought up something like that on your own, you shouldn't be embarrassed to publish it! I know a lot of authors that use different books as inspiration (I do too). For example, Jack's character was made from me watching How to Train your Dragon and Dragonheart (also reading Dragon Slippers). Dmitry was inspired by Anastasia the 20 Century Fox animated movie, etc. Fanfiction lets you be inspired and use that in a different fandom, which is amazing. If I were you, I'd publish my story and see what the readers think. You can only improve with writing :) I love hearing about my readers, don't ever be afraid to talk about yourself in the review :D I put so much of me into the story :)**

**I can deal with flames now.. I'm much more mature than when I had written my first story :D Mostly, they tell me about my mistakes, so that I can improve. I really read all the reviews and take them to heart, not because I live my character (main OC) but because I live my story :) I hope this makes some sense to you xD**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed :D**

**Emma Hynes: Oh, man, I can't really deal with Elena either… I like Caroline, though… And Elena has been really bitchy (in the TV series) to Caroline… And I think that Damon and the Originals lost their evilness when they basically 'sided' with Elena… darn… Yeah, I shall leave this topic alone xD**

**I like Kol stories, though, because we don't know enough about him, so it gives the author freedom to go crazy with the story… I've been itching to write one completely AU VD story… then I remember all the unfinished ones that I've got xD**

**Narcissa/OC? I'm interested… I actually have this headcannon about Draco getting divorced and then befriending the Weasley and Potter family because his son ends up in Gryffindor… I dunno why, it started developing in my head… I think it would be hilarious to write out :P**

**It's alright to dabble into the Mary Sue thing a bit, as long as it doesn't change the ICness of the original characters (at least for me)… Oh darn… I hope I'm doing alright with the twins… they are actually really hard to write… I keep re-reading the books xD**

**I haven't actually seen Modern Family, but I went on youtube and put the name and series in, and I rather liked what I saw… Yep, that's Dragon alright… just give him a magic wand and a broom… xD**

**Yeah, she kind of is a target xD I made her that way… She needed to get stronger, and that was the perfect way… Then again, input Harry Potter in third year and everyone will forget about her :P I don't know if she will adjust.. She simply grew up believing that if you do what is right, you shouldn't be punished, I tried to show that in this chapter. She is still a kid, but she looks on prejudice in a very mature way. She is oober weird, but that will get better as she starts hanging out with kids her own age. I doubt that Jack will succumb, more like build her own little part of Hogwarts where she can function, if you get what I mean? Because she already has people that accept her (even if some of them show it in a weird way).**

**Hehehe~ Maybe this will be a late night update, too? (I get so excited whenever I hear my phone mail notification these days… stories and reviews… I'm always refreshing the inbox like a crazy person xD) Actually, it's about 4am here xD I get very crazy when I decide to update… I'm like, today is the day! And then I finish the chapter and proofread (cause I've got no beta) and then I reread the reviews (and get hyper) and can't wait to get some more (because I consider you guys my beta readers… :P) Thank you for the compliments… I'm really worried about the people staying IC and my relationship building being subtle, yet childish (because they are kids..) I'm a worrier xD**

**Hope you enjoyed :D **


	7. Chapter 7

**Welcome ladies and gents!**

**This is a quick update because I won't be able to update until next week (college stuff) so… yeah…**

**I would like to give my thanks to:**

**TheNextTeenWolf, DemontaDark and Izaria for the alerts!**

**TheNextTeenWolf, black-miracle and Izaria for the favs!**

**Also, my wonderful reviewers, you keep me writing! HenriaSownbinder, TheNextTeenWolf, Emma Hynes, Maiannaise and lisa buer 9**

**Enjoy!**

**Joan Jett – I love Rock 'n' Roll (cover of the Arrows in 1982)**

Aras shuffled on his branch, warning all the owls to stay away. He bent down and tore another part of the bloody rat that he was eating. One of the school owls attempted to get a piece, but Aras was too quick. With a screech his beak hit the soft flesh of the owl, making it pull back. He wasn't to be disturbed while he ate. The stupid birds should understand that by now.

He shook his head out, sending blood from the rat everywhere and making the other residents shuffle impatiently. The strange human wasn't here yet. Aras grabbed the rest of his rat and spread his wings, flapping a few times lazily. He liked his human. The other owls just kept carrying mail and flying here and there. But, his human was different. She didn't send so many letters. She didn't tell him to say with her annoying father. No, he was left to his own devices. The grounds of the castle where his human was staying were large and there was plenty to hunt for in the forest. He was content here, despite all the other, stupid owls.

He liked his little human's fingers. They could scratch just the right places that he couldn't reach. He liked his time before he fell asleep. The human would come and wait for the sun with him. She would talk and talk, and sometimes look so terribly funny, with water running out of her face. But, she would scratch him where he wanted and in exchange, he would snuggle with her, so that her face would stop leaking. But today, the sun rays had already peeked over the horizon, and his little human was nowhere to be found.

So, naturally, dead rat in his beak, Aras decided to search for his human. He had had training back across the large water. They had taught him how to zero in on one's magic and find them. They had taught him how to behave and how to be a good mail owl. But, he had always been wild. He had been captured from the wild when he was just a little owlet. And he still remembered the wide woods and the night skies and the humongous moon that he had lived under back then. Getting taken by this human, this little female, he had come pretty close to that. He felt like he owed her. She had taken him away from that retched place where his last owner had dropped him off.

Finding the specific magic thread, Aras headed towards one of the tall towers, flying near the windows to seek the brown mop of hair that was his female. It was almost impossible to explain magic threads. To wizards especially. Many had tried talking to owls, and failed, but, it remained on them to use their mysterious ways to find wizards and deliver letters. That's why owls were actually taught by other owls, and not trained by wizards. Aras knew, only by a spell, against all but a certain owl or all owls, could a wizards escape the mail. There was even a way to mask your trail from a certain person, but they could ask someone else to send mail in their stead, making your spell ineffective.

Aras caught a glimpse of his human's familiar messy hair and headed towards the window. He landed with grace on the ledge and placed the rat carefully down. Then, he started knocking on the glass with his beak. Tap tap tap. The humans slept on. Three of them. Three little human offsprings. His was sprawled in one of the comfortable chairs near the warm fire. He wanted to clean his feathers in front of that fire. That would be cozy.

Tap tap tap. Aras was persistent. He wanted inside. He hadn't been in this part of the castle yet. Actually, he hadn't been in a lot of parts of the castle yet. His little human female stirred, but only rolled onto her other side in the chair and fell asleep again. Aras inspected the other two human offsprings. They were male, that much was clear, and they were rather similar, almost completely identical, even their threads. But, he could tell their magic apart. The one closer to the fire had a shifting line, like it was constantly changing form, and the other had a brighter, more stable one. Aras hooted. His little human had found good friends.

Tap tap tap. The owl was quite persistent. Then, one of the boys finally stirred and looked up. "Bloody Hell!" He exclaimed when he saw Aras waiting impatiently at the window. Staggering sleepily, the human child walked to the window and opened it. Aras hooted in displeasure, going so far as to snap his beak at the offspring. Then, he grabbed the dead rat and flew into the common room gracefully. He landed on the back of his human's chair, enjoying the warmth and fluffing out his wings. The redheaded offspring closed the window and returned to his previous position on the sofa next to his almost-clone. The small human male attempted to go back to sleep, but Aras would have none of it.

He dropped the dead ran right onto his human's head, making the small thing jump up and scream. It awoke her two human companions. Aras hooted in pleasure once she picked up the bloody meat from the floor where it had ended up.

"Araaaaas!" She addressed him, turning to the great owl with a disgusted face. "That's just gross!" She told him, yawning.

"Your owl is bloody mental." Confirmed one of the human males, the one that had opened the window. His little human shook her head, wrinkling her meaty beak in displeasure when she pulled out some bloody meat from her hair.

"Araaaas!" She complained once more. Aras tilted his head and hooted. He didn't understand. He brought her breakfast? Did she not want to eat? Maybe humans only fed after the sun was all the way up? He was confused. No matter, she should be thankful. He had shared his precious meal with her. And, he had caught it himself! She should be grateful, his little human owlet. With another hoot, Aras spread his impressive wings one again and glided gracefully to the fire. There, he made himself comfortable and stretched out one long wing and began to clean it, sending faulty feathers everywhere. They were hurting when he flew.

"You bird is mental." Repeated one of the human males, causing Aras to screech at him in displeasure. "Impressive, but mental." Aras heard his little human laugh.

"He's just grumpy because I didn't come to the Owlery this morning." She yawned and walked over to Aras. "Don't be mad. I was just tired." She started scratching him just the way he liked it and the bird stopped cleaning his feather immediately to position himself better. "I could never forget about you." Aras hooted.

"It's bigger than you are, Howler!" The two human males were now standing above the two of them, looking at the bird.

"Beautiful, though." Commented the other causing Aras to fluff his feathers.

"Must've cost a fortune!" Said the first one with clear envy.

"We have a family owl." Told the other.

"Errol is ancient!"

"He gets lost."

"And tends to faint."

"He's a menace." The two chorused. Aras hooted when his little human laughed at the two males. He didn't like them. He didn't like them one bit.

X

Jack arrived to breakfast late. Her hair was still wet and Aras was struggling to stay on her shoulder as she ran through the corridors. He would stretch out his wings from time to time awkwardly to keep himself on his perch. He had ended up eating the dead rat. The twins had found it hilarious that Jack's bird was trying to feed her dead rats. They didn't want to wait for her to get ready, though. They complained how all girls were slow and how they wanted to eat.

"Morning." Greeted Jack, plopping down in between Fred and Angelina. The twin mumbled a response through his food, while Angelina and Alicia gave her surprised looks. Jack, sitting next to her tormentor willingly? The two couldn't believe it.

"Have a nice nap?" Alicia asked, grinning. Jack gave her a confused look as she piled food onto her plate. Then, she realized that the girls had probably seen her sleeping in the common room, along with the twins. Jack shoved some food into her mouth, ignoring Aras's complaining hoots. Obviously, he still thought that the perfect meal for her would be some fresh, raw rat meat.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Said Jack, pulling out her Charms homework from her bag along with a quill and an ink bottle. She unfurled the parchment and measured with her finger just how much more she needed to write before her first class. Too much, Jack realized. "Can I see your Charms homework?" The girl asked Alicia, desperate. The other girl, seeing her friend's pitiful, begging expression, caved. The dark haired girl dug through her bag and passed her homework to her friend. Jack grinned happily. "Thanks!" Then, she proceeded to eat and read Alicia's homework.

A hand stretched over the desk and took her parchment. Jack looked up to see Charlie reading her homework as he munched on his toast. The seventh year nodded and furrowed his brow when he saw the right or wrong things in the essay. He handed it back to Jack after a second.

"The Wand-Lighting Charm was actually made by accident, because the witch in question needed a light to find her fallen quill. There was also a debate between her and the wizard who invented the Instant Darkness Powder about who really made the spell, for Merlin's sake I can't remember his name, please do look it up." Charlie said, giving Jack a smile. "That should help you fill the rest of the parchment." Jack nodded, handing Alicia's homework back, her cheeks becoming unusually warm.

"Thank you." And then the small witch pushed away her plate, causing Aras to become increasingly more delighted and jump onto it. She opened her ink bottle and started writing the end of her homework assignment.

X

The next few weeks flew by. Jack wasn't sure what she should do with her time, since she seemed to have none. Even though her father never replied to her second letter, she didn't get discouraged. She wrote another one, telling him all about her time at Hogwarts. She told him about Angelina and Alicia and how the two were incredible. She told him that Angelina flew impressively well for a first year. She had actually asked Professor McGonagall if she could try out for the team, despite the rule about first years. The Professor had denied her request, which had made the girl grumpy for a few days.

Alicia, on the other hand, was a fair flyer, too. With a little practice, she could be great. She was really passionate about Quidditch, but not as much as Angelina. She was an easygoing person, ready to joke around, while Angelina was rather fiery. You never knew when the dark haired witch was going to burst into an angry rant. However, she was also fiercely loyal, as Jack had seen her telling off older students many times. Alicia didn't do that. When she was put into such a situation, she reacted like a true Gryffindor, but she didn't like to provoke conflict, and preferred to avoid it.

Jack found herself being closer to Alicia, her calm and happy nature drawing the small witch in like a magnet. She liked Angelina, they were friends, but sometimes she disagreed with the girl, and kept it to herself, as Angelina didn't take critic too well. She had figured out that Alicia was probably a Common Welsh Green, with her subtle temperament and protective nature, while Jack identified Angelina as a beautiful, but aggressive, Hebridean Black. She had finally identified the species for her two friends, and was rather happy about it.

On the other side, Jack also wrote to her father about Dmitry, the Opaleye. The Russian was currently behaving in a weird way towards her. Less and less did he sit with her in class or even play games during their free periods. They used to go to the library a lot together, but now, Dmitry went with his friends. Jack sat with him in Potions, because Snape had assigned them as partners, but that was all. She didn't even eat lunch at the Slytherin table anymore. She could sense that he was being distant, cold and that he didn't want her near him. It was strange for her to stay away, but she did. She figured that Dmitry needed to figure it out on his own. She would be there for him when he did.

The twins filled the time she usually spent with her Russian friend. They seemed to pop out of nowhere and start making jokes. It was so strange, hanging out with someone who was almost as hyper as she was. The twins were incredibly bright, but had a very short attention span when it came to studies. Lee did alright, so mostly he and Jack did their work while the two redheads distracted them. They had managed to prank McGonagall once again, getting even more detention. Their mother had sent them a rather embarrassing Howler, but the two had laughed it off.

Jack had easily identified Lee as a Chinese Fireball, also known as Liondragon. Simply, their similarities were amazing. The dark skinned boy was tolerant of the twins, often engaging in their pranks and helping them get away with some of them. He got along very well with Jack, sitting with her in some classes. They liked to joke about different Professors, thinking about what would one of them be like teaching another's subject. McGonagall teaching Potions and Snape teaching Astronomy were definite winners of their competition. Lee had a strange fascination with spiders, though, saying that he wanted an acromantula. Jack couldn't understand his love for the eight-legged creatures. She didn't fear them, but she didn't like them either. They were rather annoying in her opinion. But, despite their different tastes, the two got along fine.

Fred and George were a different story altogether. The more time Jack spent with them, the more differences she noticed. Fred was definitely the leader of all the stupid ideas. He was the more cruel one, not bothering to limit their jokes to the ones where their 'victims' would be safe. George seemed to be his moral compass of sorts, even though he was quite mischievous, too. The latter also picked up on the feelings of others more easily. He seemed to be the wiser one, somehow. But then Fred would do something very nice and thought through, leaving Jack to wander in a circle trying to find differences between them. She still hadn't identified their dragon species, either.

Scot Lawrence was another curious thing that had developed in her student life. He had turned out to be pleasant company, often inviting Jack to hang out with Hufflepuffs. From time to time, she obliged. They were mostly very nice to her, but she could see that it was only for Lawrence's sake. He had tried to sit at the Gryffindor table a few times, but the twins had pranked him a bit too hard (they enchanted his spoon to toss food in his face whenever he tried to take a bite). Then, the poor boy had settled for inviting Jack to dine with him. Jack liked him. He was nice.

She had also gained some more friends. A couple of girls from Slytherin during her flying lesson. Some Ravenclaw that she had ended up sitting next to in class. A blonde older girl from Hufflepuff. A couple of Gryffindors that had helped her in the library. Jack felt at home. Hogwarts had become her home.

X

Jack walked down the corridor after Astronomy, heading towards the Gryffindor tower. She had gone to the bathroom, getting left behind by her fellow classmates. She adjusted her father's old leather bag onto her shoulder better, glancing out the window as she passed it. The moon was full and round in the sky, its light serene and calming. Jack smiled as she kept walking, the only sound in the dark her footsteps. She didn't walk around the castle at night. That was what the twins did. They enjoyed it, apparently. Finding all the different passages and evading Filch and the patrolling prefects. They actually had a score board where they marked the number of times they escaped versus the number of times that they had been caught. She had seen Fred showing it off in the common room. Their brother Percy wasn't thrilled, but Charlie thought that it was hilarious that his little brothers were troublemakers.

Then, something happened that sent a shiver of fear down Jack's spine. A soft fluttering sound came from the outside, like something was hitting against the wall. Jack walked a bit faster, getting to the next window to peer thorough the closed glass. There was nothing out there. The soft wind blew the yellowing leaves around, but the grounds were otherwise calm. Silence ensued. And then, again, the soft fluttering sound and then a loud scratch. Remembering the last time she had heard something like that, Jack turned away from the window and ran.

She went right, then left and one more left, probably getting lost. She heard one more scratching sound and fled like a rabid hippogriff was on her heels. She was panting when she reached a flight of stairs and ran up them in record time. However, she forgot about the disappearing step and suddenly, she lost her footing, falling down.

Jack yelped, pain shooting up her leg. She let go of her bag and began struggling to get out of the step, but she was stuck. Then, she stilled, waiting for the dreaded sound. A long, screeching scratch came from somewhere below the stairs. From the darkness. Then, silence. Jack could swear that she stopped breathing. She didn't know what that sound was. She hoped that it was simply Mrs. Norris, and that she would get out of this with only detention.

Moments passed in silence and her leg became completely numb. There was no more scratching. Only dead silence. A vice grip landed on Jack's shoulder and she whipped around, ready to scream. However, she was met with Professor Vasilescu's expressionless face. The woman grabbed her shoulder and pulled her out of the step with surprising strength. Jack stepped onto her good leg, picking up her bag and trying to steady herself.

"It is in my belief that students shouldn't be out of bed at this time, Miss Knight." Vasilescu spoke, looking at the darkness at the bottom of the stairs. She then glanced at Jack, her eyes strangely awake and attentive, making the small witch uneasy. Jack realized that the Professor was waiting for an answer.

"We had Astronomy, Professor." She explained. "I fell behind because I went to the loo." Jack looked down, a bit embarrassed about her mishap. Vasilescu nodded, but didn't let go of Jack's shoulder.

"I shall valk you to your common room." The statement was adamant. Jack was willing to swear that she saw the Professor's eyes flash a bright yellow when she looked at the darkness for the last time.

The walk to the Gryffindor common room was short, despite Jack's small limp. Her leg hurt a bit, but it wasn't broken. Vasilescu said the password, making the Fat Lady open the portrait. Then, the pale woman looked at Jack, not letting go of her shoulder when the witch tried to enter the hole.

"Miss Knight." The calm brown eyes, somehow too alert, like an owls, caught Jack's silver ones in an unbreakable stare. "Do not vander these halls at night. Not all creatures sleep then." And with that, the Professor let go of the girl's shoulder, leaving her to climb into the hole (How long are you going to take to get in, child? I was sleeping, you know?).

X

A few days later, though, all those thoughts of Professor Vasilescu and the mysterious scratching in the dark were banished from Jack's mind by the twins. Somehow, the two had managed to organize a war during the free period. Jack wasn't sure how she had become involved, but she had.

The weather had turned colder, as October was starting, and with her warm scarf and mittens, Jack had chosen to sit outside to study. She had, along with Alicia and Angelina, found a nice, cozy spot in the courtyard, opening their books. They had just begun working when Lee joined them with his own parchment and book. He had complained about the twins being impossible to work with.

Apparently, Lee had tried to get all three of them to finish their homework together, but it had turned into a war between Fred and George. They had charmed their quills to sing and transfigured Lee's bottle cap into a rat's behind, like it was the funniest thing ever. Then, they had begun some kind of a paper figurine war, making little paper-men with their paper-catapults and paper-planes and charming them to attack each other. Lee had given up after one of the small figurines had knocked the rat-assed ink bottle all over his parchment.

"They are great mates, don't get me wrong." Explained Lee as Angelina flipped through her Transfiguration book, looking for a certain paragraph. "But, they don't really care about marks at all." Alicia laughed.

"I truly admire you, Lee. I couldn't stand to be around them for as long as you are." The witch pondered. "Sharing a dorm with them must be both amazing and terrible!" Lee nodded.

"They like to practice random spells that they find in books, you know." The boy said. "Especially if you're sleeping. They find that hilarious." Alicia shook her head and Angelina snorted.

"They should be happy that they aren't sharing a dorm with me." The latter commented.

"True!" Alicia laughed. "You'd curse them to Azkaban and back!" All of them giggled at the image. Then, something unexpected happened. A pile of yellow, red and orange wet leaves fell onto Angelina's head, spilling all over her book, too. The girl slowly looked up, her face promising pain. Apparently, the twins had become bored of their solo war and had come down to the courtyard. They were snickering, wands drawn, pointing at Angelina's face.

"You'll regret that!" Yelled the witch, turning around. She dropped the book onto the bench and bent, gathering the mud that was there in large quantities. With her Quidditch (which she practiced at home) aim, the girl hurled the mass at the twins. George was a bit too quick, repelling it with his wand. It landed on a poor, unsuspecting Ravenclaw's head, making him turn and his friends laugh.

Then, madness began. Fred charmed another piled of leaves, infused with mud, to fly at the first year study group, while the older Ravenclaw tossed mud at George, attempting to get back at the twin. Jack found herself tossing her half-finished essay into her book and leaving her stuff on the semi-safe bench and then running. The war slowly moved away from the courtyard and partially into the open halls, as more and more students, of various ages, got involved.

Jack grinned, taking the mud-munition from Alicia and tossing it at one of the Hufflepuffs that were aiming for Lee. It hit him right across the middle of his back, slowly sliding down.

"You got Cedric!" Alicia yelped. Jack hid behind the massive doorway pillar once again, looking at her friend.

"Who's Cedric?" She asked. Alicia paused for a second in making a mudball to look up at her.

"The boy that you just hit." She explained, pushing some hair behind her ear, leaving a mud trail. Not that it mattered, as she was already covered in it. "He's really nice. I sometimes sit with him in DADA." Jack nodded and then grinned.

"This is all out war, Alicia. No allies." The girl laughed.

"And what are we?" She pointed to Jack as the small witch took a mudball and threw it at one of the passing Slytherins.

"Frenemies!" Jack yelled in joy, her eyes twinkling with competitiveness. Alicia laughed, tossing her own mudball. She bent down just in time to evade a fast mass of mud, but some of it landed on her robes. Jack giggled, not really caring about the mess.

"I'll be your frenemy, too." Said one of the twins, pulling the collar of Jack's robe to slip some mud down her bare back. She yelped, turning around and planting the mudball from her hand straight onto the boy's chest. Then, she dragged it down and allowed it to fall with a loud squelching sound to the stone floor. They stared at each other for a moment and then started laughing.

"You'll make a great frenemy, George!" She told him, nodding. George ruffled her dirty hair with glee. Then, they proceeded to make mudballs and attack everyone that passed. However, every good thing must come to an end, and so did this mud war.

"Stop!" An all too familiar voice yelled. The students slowly stopped tossing brown projectiles. Professor McGonagall was standing in the courtyard, her royal green robes dirtied by a well-placed mudball in the middle of her skirt. She looked furious. "Who started this?!" The witch whipped the mass with her voice and eyes. The students fidgeted, everyone trying to detect the one that got them engaged.

Jack could see Snape and Vasilescu walking towards McGonagall. While Snape looked ready to murder someone, as there was mud on his sleeve, Vasilescu looked rather amused, even though her face was expressionless. The DADA Professor, her silver and pale yellow robes completely clean of mud looked to McGonagall with mirth in her eyes.

"Minerva, I doubt that any of them meant any harm." Vasilescu spoke. "It vas a harmless game. I used to play it, too, a long time ago. I'm sure you did, also."

McGonagall didn't seem happy about it, but she gave a small nod to the other woman. "I suppose you're right Viorica." The Head of Gryffindor house looked around. "Why don't you all get cleaned up and head to class." Jack saw Fred and George high five each other after exchanging looks of disbelief. "However!" McGonagall continued. "The next time that something like this happens, you will all receive detention!" And with that, she left. Snape followed, the last being Vasilescu who gave a meaningful look full of mirth to the twins.

Everyone began shuffling around and gathering their stuff before heading to their dormitories. Jack walked with the rest of their group to her book and picked it up. Alicia bumped one of the twin's shoulders with her own.

"I can't believe you got off without detention!" She praised, causing the two of them to gloat. Angelina shook her head.

"You're completely bonkers, you know that, right?" She asked them. One twin nodded, tossing his arm around the girl's shoulders.

"Completely." He said.

"Totally." Confirmed the other.

"Right, Howler?" Asked the first one. Jack shook her head, laughing with the rest of the group.

"All the best people are." She agreed with a grin.

**That's all folks!**

**Now a couple of things:**

**I won't update at least for a week, as I will be busy at college. So, yep. I know that you guys want fast updates, I get it, I read fan fiction, too, but I'm a very slow writer, as I like to check my work through book, pottermore and etc. Also, I stated in the summary that my updates will be irregular, so, yeah xD I get it, but I can't help it…**

**I received a great question about where I'll be taking this story (until the Deathly Hollows or not) and my answer is- no idea! xD I actually planned a couple of small stories (around 30 chapters each) for every year, but I will see just how much inspiration I have… Who knows, I might even go further that the Deathly Hollows? xD**

**Onto the reviews!**

**HenriaSownbinder: Yep, I figured that a secret would be the best way to bond these three… Jack has never had one, and the twins have had one too many xD**

**Then, you understand xD It's good to have a no-nonsense attitude :) I know that my mother definitely has one, and she passed it onto me :D I believe that Jack is more the oblivious, rather than strong, type. I'll see how it unfolds.**

**Hope you enjoyed :D**

**TheNextTeenWolf: Thank you! Unfortunately, I won't be getting into the romance part until their third or fourth year… I don't think that a twelve year old can have a serious relationship, so, I'm just developing them as friends for now :D There will be some awkward crushes, and some disappointment, and other stuff like that :)**

**Monster? I see no monster? Heheheheeheee~ You'll see :D I wonder why her father isn't writing back? Hmmmm…. I hope he will soon, though :) So many things… **

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Emma Hynes: Oh, I completely get it! I did that, too… The story seemed to get more and more ridiculous xD FemHarry/VD? That could be rather interesting… :3 So much room for insanity :D**

**Not only is Kol reckless, but completely bonkers! I love his character :) He's such a vampire, unlike the other ones xD I saw that he came back, but I still refuse to watch… It's funny how those 'Kol coming back as warlock' stories appeared on fanfiction first, and then in the show xD**

**Maybe I'll get around to writing that idea out, with Draco and all that… It's been in my head for a while… we'll see… Yeah, I think that the Malfoy family isn't all that bad, but they do seem rather evil in the beginning. I really loved the development of Narcissa in the last book :D**

**Thanks :D I feel like it'd be much easier to do the twins' characters if I had some basis, but I like freestyling, too :)**

**I'm glad that you see Jack getting stronger that way! I was aiming for that :) I think that Fred and George becoming friends with her after a while is realistic enough. I mean, they aren't her bffs or anything, but they are her friends :D **

**Well, I'm aiming for this update to be a little earlier, to give you a goodnight chapter :D Hope to hear from you soon! :)**

**Maiannaise: Welcome back, love! Yep, Jack's finally socializing in her own awkward way xD**

**Lisa buer 9: Welcome! I'm glad that you liked the chapter, it kind of dragged on and ended up being longer than intended, but oh well. :P I'm glad that you like my version of the twins :D I'm trying to keep them IC as much as possible, and I often rewrite all the scenes with them and their dialogues xD**

**I'm slowly introducing the plot, but I'll take guesses on the thing that you think chased them? Did it chase them, really? Was it just on its way and they stumbled where they weren't supposed to? Who knows… It sure scared the bejesus out of them, though xD**

**I'm hoping to get to the Hallows and beyond, but who knows? Depends on my inspiration… I tend to go from one to another fandom and then circle back xD**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Mistygirl91902: I'm glad that you like the story! :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter, too :D I can't promise to update regularly, sorry, but I do try to write at a semi-fast pace :P **

**Hope you enjoyed!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Welcome ladies and gents!**

**I simply couldn't resist writing (despite the exams xD) Somehow I manage to always fail the written ones and pass the oral examinations… I wish I could do all of them orally… Oh well, wishful thinking… Anyways! Let me pass out some gratitude!**

**Uruvia and UnderHappy thank you very much for the alerts! Welcome and enjoy!**

**Emma Hynes, HenriaSownbinder and Maiannaise, you guys are absolutely amazing and keep me writing :D Thank you for the reviews!**

**I swear that the chapter is only 4k words!**

**Enjoy!**

**Aretha Franklin – Respect (1967)**

It seemed like Halloween arrived in a second. One moment Jack was getting off the train and the other, she was looking at the tiny enchanted sugarbats that flew all around the Great Hall. She smiled as one of them headed towards her soup and she caught it with her fork. The bat stilled in a second and Jack shoved in in her mouth, enjoying the sweet taste.

"Ew!" Commented Alicia. "How can you eat those?" She made a disgusted face as Jack continued eating her soup calmly with a shrug. Alicia shivered at the mere thought of eating those bats.

"Do you reckon they have a prank prepared?" Asked one of their fellow Gryffindors, a shy girl named Mary. Of course she was talking about the twins. Alicia shook her head and looked pointedly at Jack. The small witch shrugged.

"Ashk Wee." The girl mumbled through her bread. It wasn't like she had suddenly become best friends with the two redheaded troublemakers. Sure, she spent a fair amount of time with them (more like they spend a fair amount of time with her), but they didn't tell her everything. Actually, they usually went silent about their jokes when they saw her. Maybe they thought that Jack would turn them in to McGonagall if she heard their plans? Then again, she probably would. She wasn't a big fan of their pranks. They more than often ended badly for at least one participant.

Alicia and Mary turned to Lee, who had just arrived, bombarding him with questions about the twins. He gave Jack an exasperated look, but she simply shrugged and kept eating. The soup had been finished and the small witch had just started on her mashed potatoes when a wild screech rang out as a rather large owl descended towards the Gryffindor table.

Aras landed with a hoot in front of his owner, proudly shuffling his majestic wings. Jack attempted to bend her head low as she reached for the letter and the package that the owl had brought her. That's the only thing that she needed. Aras making his way into the Great Hall like he bloody owned the place. It's not like anyone knew her without the giant, scary owl.

However, Jack couldn't suppress her excitement at the thought of her father writing, despite all the murmurs in the room. But, everyone turned to their lunches pretty soon, not really caring about the strange witch. Jack had found that rumors in Hogwarts spread like wildfire. They could circle the school in the matter of hours, becoming more and more ridiculous. But, they also died down fairy easily (not like anyone forgot, simply, there was a new rumor to consider). In fact, even though everyone knew that Dragon's daughter was at Hogwarts, not many actually knew that Jack was the girl in question. When the witch introduced herself, some made the connection. Some didn't. Knight wasn't an uncommon last name, after all.

"Is it from your father?" Asked Angelina, peeking over Jack's arm to see the cursive writing on the parcel. Her two friends knew about her father's not so responsible ways. Jack had been depressed during the first few days. She would find herself looking at all the owls as they flew, hoping that one of them would come and settle in front of her.

"Yes!" The small witch said, excitement bubbling in the pit of her stomach. She had written at least five letters to her father, each at least a page longer than the one before. Aras hooted happily. "Thank you." She absent mindedly stroked his head, making the owl shuffle his wings again, as if he had just won the Owl of the Month award.

_Miss Jaqueline Knight_

_Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Great Hall_

_Midget,_

_Sorry for not writing back. Season starts soon. Very busy at work. Send more letters. I love reading about your time at Hogwarts._

_Have a mischievous Samhain,_

_I'm so lucky!_

_Pa_

The letter was short, but it was warm, just the way she liked it. With a smile, she re-read the messy scrawl of her father (probably written on his knee at the stadium, she could picture it in her head). Something wet plopped onto the paper, smudging the ink. Jack blinked, suddenly realizing that she was crying. Brushing her tears away quickly, and hoping that no one had noticed, Jack reached for the parcel.

She ripped the orange packaging (with tiny headless horsemen riding around and yelling) and looked inside. There was a bag of something round, which she suspected were dungbombs (she knew her father well), there were a few colorful and long fireworks (Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks, her favorite) and, of course, some Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans (because her dad didn't like those) and a load of chocolate frogs. Jack grinned even wider, her cheeks hurting.

It was a Halloween necessities package. Her Pa and she, they had a game of sorts. They dared each other to have a mischievous Samhain. The one who completed their challenge better won and gained benefits during the extent of the year. Such as, less chores, more favorite food etc. No doubt, he was sending her the challenge for this year. She had sent him her own in the last letter. Well, she wasn't one for pranks. No, that was the twins or her father. She was a subtle, jinx you when you're not expecting, kind of a person. She liked her peace and quiet. But! A challenge was a challenge. And, how could she turn one down? She was going to make sure that McGonagall wrote a lengthy letter to her father, explaining the full extent of her prank.

"What's with Jack?" Whispered Lee to Alicia. The girl looked to her friend, noticing the grin (a bit too much alike to the one that the twins had when they were planning something). It was not something that you saw on Jack's face on a normal day.

"I have no idea." She told the boy honestly, attempting to make her neck as long as possible to look into her friend's parcel unnoticed. The large owl noticed her intentions, though, and screeched like a mad manticore, causing Alicia to jump back.

"Merlin's beard!" Swore Lee, trying to save his goblet from the raging owl. "What's his problem?" Aras turned on him now, his sharp claws aiming for Lee's hands (deeming them the weakest part of the human, and the most useful one). "Knight! Get your bloody bird a healer!" Jack's head snapped up and she called out to her owl, much like one would to a dog.

"Aitvaras!" It wasn't a scolding tone, more like a call. The bird turned its head, wings still extended threateningly. "Let's go." And with that, the girl picked up her old bag, parcel and letter and headed out. Aras gave one more screech (for good measure) at Lee, and then followed his mistress, flying lazily behind her.

"Bloody bird!" Exclaimed Lee, inspecting one of the cuts on his pinky finger. "Acts more like a cat then like a bird, I swear."

Alicia shrugged. "He can carry a lot of weight, though. You should've seen the order that Ange and I got him to deliver from Diagon Alley! Oh, it had to be at least one and a half stone or more!" The witch said, nodding.

"Still a too violent beast." Murmured Lee, continuing his meal.

X

Jack plopped into her seat at DADA, dead tired from Potions with Snape. She had thought that, as the year went on, he would be less and less cruel to the Gryffindors in his class. But, it seemed to be the exact opposite. The more lectures she attended, the madder and more cruel he became, looking for any tiny mistake to deduct points from their house. Jack had already lost five points because her pungous onions had been 'chopped like a broken-armed monkey had attempted to do it'. Luckily, she was on Vasilescu's good side, so she was prepared to be as active as possible and get those points back.

The students piled in, Lawrence dropping into his seat next to her. "Greetings, Knight." He said, smiling that sweet smile of his. Jack grinned back weakly, nodding. The twins grinned at her identically as they entered, heading for the back. They seemed in high spirits, despite Snape's obvious hate for them. Jack had it good, compared to the way that their Potions Master acted towards the redheads. Well, they had set off dungbombs in his personal supplies, but still. He hovered, like a giant bat, behind the two, waiting for them to make a mistake. Not like they cared. In fact, they thought it hilarious. "How have you been?" Lawrence was persistent.

"Good, you?" Jack fired off automatically. Then, her nose scrunched up and she turned to him with an apologetic look on her face. "Sorry. I just had Potions." She admitted. Lawrence was nice to her. He tried to sit with her in as many classes as they shared, but sometimes Jack would be kidnapped by one of the twins, or by the girls. Lawrence, too, had his own mates. But, they hadn't seen each other during the weekend, as Jack was holed up with Angelia and Alicia, attempting to finish all of the homework that she had been avoiding like a plague. Impossible, but attemptable.

"That explains it." Lawrence laughed. "I don't blame you for your bad mood." Then he moved closer, whispering to her. "The greasy bat really should stop being such a Scrooge, don't you think?" Jack giggled (giggled mind you!) into her hand. She understood the reference (unlike many of her classmates). Her father had insisted that she grow up learning about both worlds. In fact, she maybe knew more about the muggle ways than of the wizarding ones. Maybe that's why Lawrence felt so comfortable around her, him being a muggle-born?

"I don't think that'll be happening anytime soon." Jack replied, delighted. Her mental image of Snape going through the whole 'Christmas Carol' ordeal was simply delightful! _("I don't know what to do!" cried Snape, laughing and crying in the same breath; and making a perfect Laocoön of himself with his stockings. "I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to every-body! A happy New Year to all the world! Hallo here! Whoop! Hallo!")_ "How have you been, though, really? Anything interesting happen?"

Lawrence paused for a moment, as if debating whether to tell her something or not. Then, he looked around and bent towards her again. "Actually, something weird happened a few days back." Jack nodded, to tell him that she was listening. "A mate of mine, Keegan, maybe you know him?" She shook her head no. "No matter. Well, he didn't come to our dorm for a few days. And then, just as we were getting worried, he returned, dazed, not knowing that he had been 'missing'." Lawrence quoted with his fingers. "Weird, right?"

Jack nodded, focused on the chalk that was lying on the Professor's table. Strange was more like it. This wasn't the first story like that that she had heard. In fact, her friend from Ravenclaw, Elyse Foxall, had told her that one girl from her dorm had vanished. Then again, Elyse had suspected that the girl had gone to visit her elder sister, who was in Hufflepuff (even though sleeping in a different house was very frowned upon). The only reason why she remembered the story was because she had met the small girl (even shorter than Jack!) in a bathroom once. But, now, the two tales overlapped a bit too much for Jack to ignore it.

"Weird." She murmured, but Lawrence didn't catch it because Vasilescu entered the classroom.

X

"Miss Knight, you should put some more force into the spell." Vasilescu remarked, suddenly right next to Jack. The witch nodded, focusing on her wand more. The tip was glowing in a pale, almost nonexistent, yellow light. It was warm somehow, like her whole wand was warm from the magic. Like the wand itself was enjoying the rush of the spell.

Painfully aware of Lawrence and Vasilescu watching her, Jack closed her eyes. She felt the flow of the magic. It was like a steady, very familiar and almost nostalgic thread of something warm and sparkling. It sizzled through Jack and into her wand, as if the object focused it to a point. The cherry wood was smooth, the delicate natural bumps on it warm and familiar in her hand, despite that it was her first year of owning it.

Jack allowed for more of the warm and sparkly current to flow from her and into the wand. Then, she felt the difference. It was like something lit in front of her and even with her eyes closed, Jack was seeing it. A dragon, its jaws wide open, fire prepared to shoot right at her. The heat was becoming more and more intense, like it would consume her. She didn't mind it one bit. It wasn't the bad, harmful, kind of fire. It was almost friendly. Like it was trying to protect, rather than burn. Jack wasn't afraid at all.

"Excellent, Miss Knight!" Vasilescu exclaimed, causing Jack to open her eyes. True enough, the tip of her wand was lit up in a steady, lemon-yellow light. It was gentle, soothing, almost calling out to her. Smiling, Jack looked at Lawrence who gave her a thumbs up, smiling widely. "Ten points to Gryffindor for the excellent spell." Vasilescu exclaimed, heading towards the front of the classroom once more. She turned to them, glancing at the hourglass next to her desk. The top was almost empty. "Shall ve all say the counter-charm and extinguish our vands?" The Professor didn't wait for an answer. "Nox!" She raised her voice slightly, and the class chorused, the rare lit wands going dark.

"Nov, one more minute, please." Vasilescu sat at the edge of her desk, suddenly looking tired. The students that had begun packing stopped and listened to the woman once again. The Professor sighed and then pushed some of her fair, straight hair behind her ear. "Light is nothing but an opposite of the darkness. For one to exist without the other is impossible. But, at times, our light goes out and ve find ourselves unable to see clearly." The Professor looked around, noting the confused faces of her students, but didn't change the topic.

"Ve stumble and try to find our vay again. Often, ve cannot light our own light once more. Then, ve must rely on our comrades to light the vay for us." She paused, slowly looking from one pair of children to another once more, as if waiting for something. "Be grateful to the one that rekindled your spark. There are still those lost in the dark, stumbling about, vhilst you are valking on tvo steady feet." Vasilescu stood up, as if snapping from a trance of sorts. "Class dismissed." She told them and settled into her chair, opening one of their homework scrolls.

"Bonkers, that one." Commented one of the twins as the group left the class. Jack glared at him, her nose scrunching up.

"Well, I like her." She said. Professor Vasilescu was strange, that was for sure. But, the woman had some kind of gentleness around her, despite being clearly powerful. Jack had found herself looking forward to Vasilescu's class a lot. She had even asked the Professor some extra questions (surprisingly not about dragons) and had discovered that the woman had a wide range of knowledge, despite her young age (she seemed to be in her late twenties, if Jack had to guess).

"Well, ickle Howler." The other twin appeared on her other side (Fred, she noted), grinning. "She is still bonkers." And then the two laughed. Jack shook her head and split up from the group, heading towards the library. She waved at Lawrence as she passed him.

X

Luckily, because of Halloween, most people were busy that day. This gave Jack the perfect opportunity to plan her little (note the sarcasm) prank. If she was going to answer her father's challenge, she was going to do it with style. Unfortunately, Hogwarts: A History didn't give Jack all the information that she needed. So, she decided to seek the help of the more experienced. No, not better, more experienced.

But, trying to find Fred and George was like attempting to find someone using an invisibility cloak. After looking in the common room, the dorm, the many nooks and crannies where they liked to sit and plot, Jack was exhausted. Just as she was about to give up, she saw the two redheads, huddled on a bench in a corner near one of the tall windows.

Smiling deviously, Jack tiptoed over to them, wanting to scare them this time. They had been doing that to her for a while now. Obviously, the two had a little 'make Jack scream' game going on. They would sneak up on her and then make a loud noise, measuring the intensity of her scream and height of her jump.

"Boo!" Shouted Jack, but the twins didn't jump or yelp. They simply turned around, one of them stuffing something in his pocket hurriedly.

"Hello, ickle Howler!" Greeted the one on the right. Fred, she noted.

"How are you this fine evening?" George wanted to know, smiling. Jack frowned.

"Did you hear me? Was I too loud?" The twins kept smiling identically, not answering. "Pricks." She settled for, plopping in between them on the bench.

"So-" Began George.

"what brings you-"

"Miss Knight-"

"here-"

"this fine evening?" They chorused the end, like they usually did. Jack shook her head.

"I need your help with something." Said the small witch. The twins exchanged glances (Jack had noticed that they did that a lot), as if talking with only their eyes. These weren't the knowing glances that Angelina and Alicia exchanged. No, this was a conversation between them.

"What's bothering you, ickle Howler?" Asked Fred after a moment or two.

Jack took another breath and then caved. Yes, she was actually going to do this. "I have this competition with my Pa, you see." George gave her a questioning look, but she ignored it. "Every year, during the Samhain, we give each other a challenge." She told the boys. "For example, last year, I dared him to shave his head and not regrow it with magic." The twins snickered.

"How hilarious was it, on a scale of one to ten?" Asked George.

"What do you think?" Jack fired back, their grins contagious.

"Eight and a half." They chorused.

"He looked like a crystal ball! His head was so shiny!" Jack burst laughing, unable to control herself any longer. The twins joined her, imagining the famous Scarlet Dragon flying around and spitting fire with a very shiny head.

Once they calmed down a bit, the girl continued. "Anyways, he dared me to eat twenty chocolate frogs in one minute. Then he charmed them to run away from me." Fred snorted in laughter causing Jack to elbow him. "Not funny. Anyways, he won last year. So, this year, I need to win!" She told them, grinning competitively. "He has dared me to cause mayhem in the school with certain items. It must result in McGonagall writing a letter to him. So," She paused for dramatic effect. "Are you in or are you in?"

The twins were already grinning, though, their faces telling their intentions very clearly. They were a hundred percent in. "So, what are your items?" Asked Fred. Jack dug out the parcel from that morning from her old bag and opened it again, allowing the twins to peek inside. George whistled.

"That's not bad." He commented, smiling at his brother and their newfound accomplice.

"True, we can do quite a bit with this." Fred agreed, leaning in. Jack grinned.

"Like blow up a broom cupboard or ten?" She asked, their heads touching as they looked into the box with glee.

"We should be careful, ickle Howler." Said Fred.

"We need to make sure that our dear friends from Slytherin don't feel lonely." George nodded.

"We haven't pranked them in a while." Agreed the first brother. Then, he pulled back slightly, looking at Jack once again. "We also had something to ask you, ickle Howler." Said the twin, smirking at his brother. Now, this was the smile that Jack was a bit scared of. This promised hell, not only for her, but for the whole school.

"True, Freddie. We had planned to ask our little Dragonling for some help." George nodded, mirroring his twin's grin and posture.

"In fact-"

"we have this-"

"perfect surprise-"

"all planned out-"

"but we're missing a crucial thing-"

"a potion." They completed the explanation together. Jack raised one eyebrow, looking from one twin to the other.

"Why are you asking me then? I'm terrible at Potions!" She exclaimed, shaking her head. Fred and George exchanged glances once more, talking in their own twin way. Jack blamed it on their weird twin bond. Yes, that had to be it.

"Regular potions, yes, you are." Fred began.

"Is that really the way to ask a favor?" The witch spoke, her tone flat with sarcasm. She saw George, out the corner of her eye, motioning with his hands something that suspiciously looked like 'abort mission', but his brother didn't listen.

"Only the truth, Howler." Fred was smiling cockily. "You are, however, brilliant when it concerns dragons, no?" Jack raised an eyebrow. She didn't see the direction in which this conversation was heading. Fred gestured with his hands, as if it was obvious.

"We want you to make us a potion with dragon ingredients." Finally George took the reins, noticing his twin's struggle. Obviously, dramatically pausing wasn't working its usual charm for Fred today. Jack chuckled at the thought.

"Sure." She agreed with the two. "I'll try." She told them. Silence ensued and the twins looked at each other in disbelief. Jack looked at one, and then at the other. "Really? You thought I wouldn't?" She asked them, almost disappointed. Did she really seem like a boring person?

"Well, we have noticed that you have a close relationship with the rules." George noted.

"True, true. Almost like Percy." Fred commented. Jack gasped. No. He didn't just. Oh, he just did. She was going to show him. The witch stuffed her parcel back into her bag and got up, face reddening as she did. She then turned to them, glaring. Well, the fire from her eyes was mostly aimed at Fred, but George wasn't escaping it, either. She was no troublemaker, but she wasn't a goody two shoes. She was going to show them.

"Well then, boys, I will see you in an hour in the common room?" Jack asked, her tone positively icy. The twins nodded, faces blank. "Bring instructions for your potion." And then the girl turned on her heel and left with a flutter of her school robes.

Once she was safely out of eyesight the twins grinned at each other. "Easier than I expected." Commented Fred. George nodded knowingly.

"I told you that it would work. She's an impulsive one."

"Competitive." Added his brother.

"I like her, Freddie." George said.

"Me too, Georgie." Fred agreed somberly. They sat there for a moment longer, not speaking. There was simply no need to talk. It was a twin thing, they would say. But, the two didn't know how to explain it. For them, the ones that had shared a womb and been born together. They had shared a bed and a pillow and a blanket. They had shared toys and clothes. Simply, they had always been an entity. Two parts of a whole. There was no need for words, they simply sat there, enjoying the familiarity of the other half. Fred reached out his hand, grasping his brother's tightly. George returned the squeeze gently.

"Let's go."

**That's all folks!**

**Time for my little rant:**

**I hope that I didn't overdo the twins in the end. I'm really trying to portray a bit of their side of the relationship with Jack. Also, I don't have any brothers or sisters (that live with me anyways, I have half siblings) so I'm also exploring that part of their relationship. I know quite a few twins, and their little 'twin radar' is fricking creepy! They know… I'm serious, they know xD It's freakishy awesome xD**

**Anyways, I hope I didn't confuse you guys with the Samhain challenge that Jack and Dragon do. I figure that he wanted to make the 'scary muggle thing' into something that she liked. So, he ended up creating a challenge game. Jack also needs to show the twins that she is in fact a little troublemaker (even though she thinks that she isn't)**

**Stones – I used Google as my main source for British stuff, so any UK people, do correct me if I mess up xD**

**Excuse all the brackets in this chapter, I seem to be getting overly obsessed with them… Then again, I'm running on around four hours of sleep with no signs of getting any more… And I'm writing fanfiction… Well, I should take Ron's advice and sort out my priorities xD**

**Back to the point, onto my wonderful reviews!**

**Emma Hynes: Oh, I definitely read waaaay more fanfiction that anything else xD I also rate books by the fanfiction rules :P I need to look that one up then… When I get into VD again, I'll probably PM you about it xD Kol is… welllllllllllllllllllllllllll~ Nuf said… Not just in the Nathaniel Buzolic sense. I mean, there is so much room for exploration, of both the story and the character, right? Simply wonderful! I don't know if I've read one truly good fic about Kol, though… I mean, I like the occasional fluffy story and all that, but I haven't read anything mind-blowing… Maybe that one with the succubus girl? Who is Elena's sister and stuff. It was fairly interesting to read :) Full of clichés that were just perfectly not done Mary Sue :D I was delighted. Kol is getting a bit too twisted for my liking, too. I get that he's a vamp and all, but he isn't the Devil himself…. Also, you are a bloody wicked writer! I read some of the thing that you published, didn't have time to go through the whole thing, but I will probably do so this weekend and I'll leave you my thoughts :D Still… Honored to have someone like you reading my stuff :)**

**Agreed about the whole IC category… That's why I keep freaking out about Fred and George especially, because not only do you guys have expectations, but so do I xD To me, whatever I draw, read or make seems kind of childish, if you know what I mean? So I tend to freak out a bit (that's why I'm on this site, to get rid of that xD) I tend to get pulled to my own experience with twins (from high school and social life) and also Hikaru and Kaoru… Oh, God, they haunt me xD So, whenever I write Fred and George, I'm like, 'There shall be no **_**brotherly**_** love!' :P**

**Yeah, it's going to take some time for both parties to actually start trusting each other and for the twins especially… I mean, until the end of the books, they don't really let anyone completely in, do they? It's always the two of them (until Fred dies…. *goes to be depressed in a corner*)**

**Hehehehe~ Weeeeeell…. I can't really tell you everything, now can I? But, I'll tell you that I actually got the inspiration for this plot from a rather famous book and it's modern youtube rendition :D Aras Aras… well… hmmmmm well…. No idea yet… I had some things planned, but I don't think that they will develop until a bit later… Vasilescu? The monster? I see… I can see that… Maybe… The position is definitely cursed xD There will be another Professor in their second year, I have that all thought up, too :D Ooooh I caaaaan't waaaaait!**

**Don't worry, I check my mail every 15 minutes to see if I have a fanfiction notification and have now proudly installed Email Tray which automatically notifies me of new mail when I'm on the computer (with AC/DC Back in black ringtone xD) This update will be ridiculously late (it's 4:20am here and I have an exam at 9am hahhahahahhaa I've finally done it….)**

**Enjoy some fanfiction relaxation during your deadline week and do your best! Good luck :D (I feel like our correspondence keeps getting longer and longer xD)**

**HenriaSownbinder: Yep, mud fight! That's Gred and Forge for you… I really want to participate in another mud fight :D Vasilescu… hmmm hmmmm hmmmmm I shall reveal nothing! But I shall keep writing xD Hopefully, I'll get to surprise you guys a bit with my ebil plans!**

**I am still afloat, but I might go all 'Houston we have a problem' soon XD**

**Hope you enjoyed! **

**Maiannaise: I wonder… Maybe? I can see that… I suppose we'll have to wait and see :D**

**I hope you enjoyed!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Welcome ladies and gents!**

**I would like to give my thanks to:**

**angelofmusic1221, trollypop and HigherAngel for the favs! :)**

**Jilly98, LaurenBrown23, burberryx and HigherAngel for the alerts! :D**

**As always: HenriaSownbinder, Emma Hynes and LaurenBrown23 for the reviews! You guys keep me writing!**

**Do come and tell me what you think in the reviews :D**

**Enjoy!**

**Queen – We Will Rock You (1977)**

Alicia considered Jack her friend. It was strange, getting so close to someone in a span of only two months. But, it was an inevitable thing, since they were sharing a dorm, after all. The young witch was rather observant, and quite clever for her age. She prided herself in her ability to 'gage' people. When she met someone, she tended to get a feeling of sorts, and then, she decided if she wanted to be their friend or not.

She remembered meeting Jack (it hadn't been that long ago, after all). She had thought the short girl, with a rather boyish hairstyle, to be weird. Her obsessiveness over anything that had even the scent of 'dragon' on it was rather unusual. She also tended to speak like an adult from time to time. At first, Alicia had thought that the girl was simply pretending, thinking that she was smarter and more mature than the lot of them. However, after speaking to her a while, she realized that for Jack, that was normal interaction.

The girl hadn't had many friends her age growing up, that was painfully obvious. She became friends with someone like it was some sort of a business deal. It was rather adorable in Alicia's opinion. Also, there were times when you had to be as painfully blunt to Jack as you would be with a small child. She wouldn't understand simple innuendos or metaphors, and would think of them as the situation itself. So, Alicia and Angelina tried as much as possible to be blunt with the girl. Jack was getting better at all that, though, despite her, a bit outdated, vocabulary. It was like the girl had leapt through time and transported herself into '89 from at least twenty years ago.

Alicia walked into the common room, a giant book in her arms (Snape had been merciless in his homework giving). It was strange for the witch to be without one of her two best friends, Angelina and Jack. But, it had been necessary. Angelina, while a fairly serious student, was more of a Quidditch-nut. When you sat down with her to study, that would go over well for the first hour or two. Then, you could simply see the vacant look take over in her brown eyes, as she drifted further and further away from the boring lines in the book (Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger for example). Then, she would attempt to pretend to be studying for a while (mostly for Alicia's and Jack's sake) and then, it would all go downhill from there. Angelina would take out her copy of Quidditch Through the Ages (by Kennilworthy Whisp) and began reading. Of course, Jack would lose her concentration by this point, too. Then, Angelina would mention one thing or another that Jack's father had done in his career (both as a Chaser and as a coach) and a discussion would be launched.

Jack was a much better study buddy in Alicia's opinion. The girl was what Alicia liked to qualify as a 'guilty studier', unlike Angelina who was a crammer who knew that she was a crammer. Jack had this guilt about not studying. She wanted to, but her attention span was quite short. So, she would try, get distracted, try, get distracted and then try again. Of course, this circle was all guilt propelled. So, if the topic was interesting for Jack (dragons and maybe some history) she would study like a woman possessed. But, if it was an everyday subject (insert everything else) it was pointless. The small witch would end up cramming with Angelina, feeling the guilt. Not to mention that Jack brought with her another factor that was dangerous to the studying. The Weasley factor.

Since the twins had randomly chosen to stop picking on the boyish girl (at least Alicia saw it that way) they had begun to pester her, not to mention the whole trio. Sure, the twins were interesting and amusing, but not when you were studying (or attempting to). And, they seemed to have a sixth sense for the girls' study-time. It didn't matter where they went, the two would find them, more than often accompanied by their best friend, Lee. The latter always ended up apologizing, because the twins just couldn't contain themselves and brought mayhem no matter where they went (jokes, charms, dungbombs, etc).

So, this had all led to Alicia spending the afternoon of October 31st, All Hallows' Eve, in the library, on her own. She had finished almost everything, and now just needed to complete her numerous pages on the uses of dragon's blood. She was actually looking for Jack, as the girl probably had done double what Snape had asked for (she had done five scrolls on the dragon claw ooze, instead of two), to steal her essay and copy some of it. She found the girl in the matter of seconds and was quite shocked, in fact.

Jack had taken over the couch in the Gryffindor common room, various papers, books and boxes splayed all over the place. However, that wasn't what shocked Alicia. It was the company. The twins (which she couldn't tell apart for the love of Merlin!) were sitting, each on one side of the girl, their heads together, and they were talking fast. Alicia flashed to the conversation that she had had that lunch with the girls from the dorm and Lee. Didn't plan a prank my ass, she thought, shaking her head. Smiling faintly, the witch walked over and tapped Jack on her shoulder.

"Hi!" Squeaked the smaller girl, the closing the book on her lap with a loud sound. Fred and George turned, too, smiling identically.

"My, my!" Began one.

"If it isn't Miss Spinnet!" Finished the other with a cocky tone.

"How may we help you this fine evening?" They chorused, their words a bit too sweet. They weren't happy that Alicia had interrupted their discussion. The witch smiled, attempting to diffuse the tension in the air that had suddenly appeared.

"What's wrong, Alicia?" Asked Jack, making the girl focus on her. Alicia remembered why she had sought out her dragon obsessed friend in the first place.

"Nothing. I was just wondering if you've finished your Potions homework yet?" Jack's face went from worried to complete joy. She probably didn't know just how expressive she was. Alicia always could tell what her friend was feeling by merely looking at her face. She tended to scrunch up her nose a lot.

"Yes. What about it? Do you need me to explain to you the-" Jack dropped the book and rose to her knees on the couch, turning fully to Alicia now. The twins glared, one of them reaching out to the back of the girl's robe and preparing to pull her down. Obviously, they weren't used to not being the center of attention.

"No-uhhh-that's quite alright." Alicia quickly said, raising her hands (probably crushing Jack's dreams, by the way her nose scrunched up). "But, I was wondering if I could borrow it? You know, for reference…"

Jack jumped up, causing the twins to groan and turn back to the boxes and books. "Sure!" She grinned as bright as the sun. "I'm going to go get it right now!" And then the small witch vanished up the stairs. There was a moment of awkward silence between the trio that was left behind. It wasn't that Alicia wasn't friends with the two. No, far from that. It was that she had just spoiled their fun, which was a great, and well-known, taboo. One redhead was glaring at her and the other had taken the abandoned book, resuming the reading. Alicia managed to get a peek, before the twin moved it out of her line of vision. It was explaining some complex muggle device called a stompee watch. Weird, Alicia thought. Why would muggles need anyone to stomp something? And who was watching what there? Were they watching people stomp? Or was the stomping person watching?

"Here you go!" Jack appeared again, a little out of breath with a blush on her face. She pushed a large book into Alicia's already full arms, grinning. "This is the most useful book for the assignment, I know that we only have one copy in the library, because Charlie had checked it out last week and I also wanted it, so we needed to-" And then Alicia tuned her out, instead focusing on the bright blush on the smaller girl's cheeks. Well, that was an interesting development, thought Alicia. Sure, it was probably an inevitable one, when she thought about it. It must be an obsession connection. She had to talk to Angelina!

"-and then, Madam Pince, I think she really hates me, told us that we couldn't just exchange the book. She says that you need to actually come and return the thing, and then register it and then-"

"Jack. Sorry, I'm in a rush to finish this." Alicia cut off the smaller girl, one of the redheads still glaring at her. "I can ask you if I don't understand anything, right?" Jack's smile fell slightly, but then became wide again.

"Yes! My essay is inside. I also referenced the pages and cited some of the work, so you will find it easier." The small witch told her before the unoccupied twin grabbed Jack's arm and pulled her back to the couch.

"Sorry to interrupt, Spinnet." He grinned at her. "But I need my homework explained, too." Alicia almost laughed. Of course he did. Shivering at the thought of Jack joining the pranking duo plus Lee, Alicia headed to the Study Hall, throwing a 'thank you and good luck' over her shoulder. She had a smile on her face, though. Dinner was undoubtedly going to be amusing.

X

That evening most certainly was eventful. Jack had headed to dinner with the twins, but had abandoned them in favor of Alicia and Angelina's company. Not that it mattered, as they had sat together at the table. Tension was quite thick in the air at the Gryffindor table that night. Everyone was expecting the Weasley troublemakers to cause some mayhem, one way or another. The twins had opened their first year with detention and had continued on like that all the way through September. Then, a short pause of pranks had ensued, as they had too many detentions to serve out and a Howler from their mother had arrived in great style (much to their amusement). But, as Halloween was known for trick playing, even in the wizarding world, everyone was expecting something.

The redheads didn't disappoint. People were watching the food appear with apt attention, expecting explosions, fireworks, dungbombs or all of the above. Unfortunately, nothing happened. The twins began eating, causing their fellow first years to become brave as well, and then dinner assumed its normal course. Chatter filled the Great Hall and everyone ate in peace, even the Professors. For a while.

Then, the first scream sounded and then laughter. One twin turned to the other and grinned. "Someone tried the pudding!" He whisper-yelled. One of their braver housemates heard and tried to take a spoonful of pudding. However, the chocolate dish fought back. It jumped to life, causing the brave boy to drop his spoon. Soon, everyone saw that the chocolate pudding was, in fact, a giant chocolate frog. It jumped up and then headed towards the student, attempting to get into his mouth. Laughter erupted along the Gryffindor table as the poor fourth year fought off the attacking chocolate. Soon, more gasps and more laughter sounded and giant chocolate frogs were running around the Hall, chasing their 'masters'. Jack noticed Flitwick subdue his pudding with a simple wave of his wand, and pile it onto his plate.

The next thing that happened was probably even better. One of the students at the neighboring, Hufflepuff, table yelled out, spitting his cake. "Tastes like earwax!" He exclaimed, inspecting the treat. Now, others were getting more and more cautious in picking their desert. Some pushed their plates away, and some chose to see if they would do fine with the other sweets. One of the pitchers from the middle of the Gryffindor table sprung into life, shooting multicolored liquid up, like a fountain.

Jack caught Fred's eye and saw him murmuring something, his hands underneath the table. She, too, took out her wand, and placed it under the table. Then, she began to list the charms that she had practiced with the twins that afternoon (she had been truly amazed at how easy Fred and George made them seem, and even more at how well they explained them). George winked at her from his seat next to Lee, his food also abandoned in favor of his wand.

The other pitches also started shooting the water up, splaying it over the students and causing them to yell, scream or laugh. The drops then transformed once more, turning into crackling, multicolored sparkles that began jumping around with loud bangs. Fire shot up from the thousands of black candles that were held in the air by magic and it turned into a giant dragon (causing George to laugh and Fred to glare at Jack) which began flying around and spitting more firecrackers.

By now, most students were standing and clapping, some laughing, some excitedly talking to their friends. Then, the water stopped rushing from the pitchers and turned back to pumpkin juice and the dragon faltered, heading down with a roar. George saw Jack's surprised face, as she had probably lost concentration, just like they had. Luckily, Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape jumped up, wands drawn. The dragon exploded into fireworks, causing the screaming and cowering students to clap once more. The pumpkin juice calmed down and vanished from the students' robes and the floor. Most of the, still attacking, frogs also settled down, jumping back into their bowls (not like anyone was brave enough to try them anymore).

Students slowly calmed down, sitting again, (something to do with McGonagall's glare and Snape's unamused face) and the chatter took over the Great Hall once more. Jack stuffed her wand back into her sock, proud of her spell. Sure, it had gotten a bit messy in the end, but it had been quite advanced. She tossed a happy grin at the twins and they retuned it.

"Blimey!" Exclaimed Lee. "You've outdone yourselves!" He clapped George's back in approval.

"Why thank you." The twins chorused, identical mischievous grins on their faces. Jack looked at McGonagall and saw the fiery glare that the woman was giving them. She smiled brightly at the Professor, feeling daring. Better make it good. She wanted a looooong letter sent to her Pa, after all. However, the Professor opened her mouth then, causing Jack to wince slightly and avert her eyes towards the twins. They both looked rather guilty, but proud, too.

"Weasleys! Jordan! Knight!" Called out McGonagall in rage, making Lee jump, as he wasn't expecting to be called out. "That was-"

"A wonderful usage of advanced spells." Continued Dumbledore, suddenly. Jack focused on him and noticed how his eyes were twinkling in amusement. He had liked it! She felt her smile grow even wider on her face and she turned to the twins, mirroring their excited expressions. "Thank you for the wonderful surprise." The headmaster continued, but his tone was full of warning, despite the amusement. He was looking at them above his glasses, blue eyes taking in their proud smiles. "I would like to award each of you twenty points for the effort to make our All Hallows' Eve memorable."

The Gryffindor table erupted in cheers. Lee looked at the twins, eyes wide (I didn't do anything!). Jack got up with everyone, laughing and clapping, too, as Fred and George bowed with flourish, like they had just won a Witch Weekly's award. Dumbledore started clapping, too, causing the rest of the teachers, and then students, to join in.

The small witch threw a glance at Vasilescu and noticed the slight curve of the woman's lips. Her strangely alert eyes were fixed on Jack, and she was clapping slowly, elegantly. Jack gave her a bright grin, before someone clapped her on the back to congratulate her on the amazing spell.

On October 31st 1989, a Tuesday, Jaqueline Knight actually felt, for the first time, like herself, like Jack, and not like Dragon's little daughter.

X

However, this wasn't the full extent of the prank. After planning everything that they actually could do at dinner, we are talking about first year students, after all, the three still had a fair amount of leftover fireworks, along with a dozen or so dungbombs. Some chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's had suffered their doom while they had been preparing the prank. So, during the next week or so, quite a few students had a couple of mishaps happen to them (that no one could really connect to the trio, curtesy of Jack, but everyone knew that they had been somehow involved). Not to mention the occasional desert that was hexed to taste like a Bertie Bott's or maybe a rogue chocolate pudding frog that had slipped past the counter curses. Their spells had diminished, so the frog's tended to be unable to jump and leaked all over the place, while the sweets tasted half way, some even having a random Bott's bean in the middle.

Apparently, the Slytherin showers had been rigged with dungbombs. Once you got in and began washing yourself, after a certain amount of time a dungbomb would explode above your head, stinking up the whole place, not to mention you. So, the prefects attempted to neutralize the threat, but never found any dungbombs. The students also tried to get the time when the dungbombs would explode and wait for them to pass, but that turned out to be useless, too. The explosion time was random, so you couldn't predict when to get into the shower. The prefects also had their own fair share of problems, as their bathroom, on the fifth floor, had been rigged, too. It was only after a while, when McGonagall got tired of complaints, that both she and Snape went around and neutralized the bombs.

Of course, the three first years hadn't stopped there, either. They had found a way to rig almost all the toilets in the castle with tiny firecrackers. So, when someone sat down, or pulled the lid up, the crackers would pop loudly, scaring the students.

The last couple of fireworks, including a large rocket-like (insert Jack's long explanation of what a rocket actually is to the twins) blue one, had been their pride and joy. They had rigged their favorite teacher's desk, classroom and personal supplies. So, when Snape had opened his classroom's door (he was one of the rare teachers that actually locked the classroom) multicolored sparkles shot out and down the corridor, bursting into little stars. The Professor had swiftly deducted points from Gryffindor, of course.

The most famous story was that of the actual potion-making during the whole week. Potions would randomly burst, induced by firework. Some of the ingredients in the student cupboard had been replaced with transfigured firework (curtesy of Fred, he was rather talented with Transfiguration, after all). So, when the students placed them into their potions, they would regain their original forms, due to the magical properties of the potion, and would cause the explosion.

The last, and largest, firework that was discovered was when Snape actually sat in his chair during one class. The three had miscalculated just how much the Professor used his desk, and the prank had been rather late, by their calculations. However, it wasn't any less epic. The chair had bitten Snape's behind, causing him to jump up ungracefully, and then shush the snickering fifth years with a single glare. Then, when he had attempted to undo the spell on the chair, it had spit out the firework, causing it to light up and head straight for the Professor. Of course, Snape got rid of the prank in seconds, but the story had still circled the school. It wasn't every day that you saw the terrifying Potions Master jumping up from his chair because he was bitten by it.

"Did you see his face?" One of the twins asked, dropping next to Jack at dinner. She looked up from her meal (tomatoes, chicken and mashed potatoes) to give him a confused look.

"Whose face?"

"Snape, of course!" Said the other twin, taking his spot across from the two. Lee gave a small wave to the witch, as he, too, settled across from her.

"When?" Asked Jack, her tone flat with sarcasm. "Were you trying to get him to throw you out the window or something?" The twins had decided that that day, the first Potions class after the 'biting chair' incident, was the perfect day to play their favorite game. The two enjoyed it immensely, unlike the other, more than often, unwilling, participants. It was called 'guess the twin' game and Jack hated it with passion. They would go back and forth in conversation, confusing the hell out of you, and then smile, waiting for you to guess who was who. Of course, in casual conversation, Fred usually slipped up and called her a Howler, but when they were playing the game (which was becoming more and more frequent, as Jack hadn't heard her unwanted nickname in a while), it was impossible to tell them apart.

So, today, they had figured that Snape was in a playful mood (He always is! They tended to say while grinning) and when he had called out for a 'Mr. Weasley' they had begun their game. It had ended with them losing around twenty points. Gradually, as Snape liked to take them away five by five, for dramatic effect.

"Then too." Grinned the one next to her.

"That was great!" Commented Lee, smiling also. The twin next to him nodded in agreement.

"You do realize, that when we sum up our gains and losses now, we have lost on our second prank all the points that Dumbledore gave us for our first?" Asked Jack, trying to get a dish of sauce for her potatoes. "You don't have anymore 'free points'." She quoted with her fingers, looking between the redheads.

"Who cares." They chorused, the twin in front of her scooping up the sauce dish. He grinned at her wickedly, mouthing 'finders keepers'. Jack shook her head, giving up. She settled back down into her seat, and proceeded to eat her potatoes without sauce stubbornly while glaring at the twin (causing him to laugh).

"Don't be like that, Jackie!" Commented the twin next to her, George, she assumed. He threw an arm over her shoulder, pulling her in a half-hug.

"Where'd our prankster friend go?" Asked the one from across from her, Fred, putting the sauce dish as far away from her as he could.

Jack shook her head. "I don't prank." She said, as if they had just suggested the most ridiculous thing ever. George turned in their hug to look at her.

"What were you doing four days ago?" He asked, bewildered. "Snoozing?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Forge!" Remarked the other twin, making Jack realize that she had been wrong. It was Fred next to her and George on the other side of the table. "She was in a trance!"

"Taken over by mysterious forces!" Continued Fred, making Jack wriggle out of his half-hug to continue eating. It was strange, this friendship, she wondered as the two continued their joke at her expense. A mere few days ago, they had spent over five hours together, making their prank. She had thought that the experience would bring them together, but she had been wrong. The twins were still making jokes at her expense and taking her stuff randomly (even though she wasn't calling them Evil Twins anymore, they had regressed to that stage once more).

Lee got involved into the twins' joke and soon their conversation turned to Quidditch, which Jack listened to with one ear. Angelina and Alicia had finished their dinner already. They had told her something about homework and left in a hurry. Jack glanced at the boys again. Maybe she had been wrong? Maybe she wasn't better with the boys and should try and become closer friends with the girls? Dmitry wasn't really talking to her anymore, either. Lawrence was, though, but only when they sat together in class or during the meals. Maybe she was doing something wrong with the whole 'friendship' enigma? Or maybe it was just the twins.

But, one thing was obvious, even to Jack, there was still so much to learn about Fred and George Weasley.

**That's all folks!**

**I was actually going to put some more things in this chapter, but decided to upload earlier… :P**

**Onto the reviews!**

**HenriaSownbinder: Twins are always fascinating to watch xD The ones that were in my high school class tended to switch when they did oral examinations, so one would learn one subject and the other the next xD They were mischievous :P I actually got along much better with the less impulsive twin in the duos that I've met so far :P Unlike Jack.. interesting… **

**Thank you xD I've just read so many fanfics where their speech has been overdone. I'm trying to give them their individual things, as they are quite different people, despite being described as identical to the last freckle. I obviously need to re-read some Harry Potter… I can't wait for the exams to pass, because I'm probably going to re-read the books :) **

**I promise not to reveal stuff about Vasilescu…. YET! :D Can't help it, you guys all want to know… hehehehehe~ Just kidding, all in good time… It's still only October in the Singed universe :D**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Emma Hynes: I surprised myself with the fast update… I was actually supposed to be studying, and then I started going through my next chapter in my head and I was like screw it! Get the laptop!**

**Oh man, don't get me started.. People think that I don't read and that I'm texting or something, when I'm actually doing the whole 'tons of fanfiction on my phone' thing xD I read books like a maniac, too.. I adore LOTR for example, and have read it in both English and Serbian quite a few times :P**

**Kol is a scapegoat… which is sad and a bit rude to the character.. I mean, we have Fin (if I spelled him correctly) who is a real mamma's boy, and we have the 'always and forever' gang, and then we have Kol.. Now, what I got from this is – he's a rebel and the youngest kid.. To me, that equals a nice, interesting story, especially if he is such an 'impulsive' character.. There's a few things that he could be doing –hating his siblings, or not caring at all.. And neither of those is happening, so I'm a tad lost xD I pegged him for a solo person, rather than the momma's boy thing.. Well, maybe I just analyzed him wrong.. Sad story of such a potentially good character.. No matter! He shall be the star of fanfiction! Not to mention tumblr**

**Oh, I freak out whenever I get a review… Such happiness makes me owhvhwbehhfiegvbbNCOII and the wriiiiiiiteeeeeeee :D I will give you all my thoughts as soon as I get some time to relax, read and actually be able to give a lengthy review :D**

**Yeah, I've heard the whole Fred and George and Hikaru and Kaoru thing… interesting… shall aboid the brotherly love part though xD**

**I know what you mean about them being independent. Maybe they are a bit more involved in the Harry thing though? Maybe not all hands on deck, but they are present. You see them commenting on Dobby and talking about Sirius and stuff. No idea… **

**Hopefully the prank didn't disappoint :) I know that they are first years and all that, but these are some of the combined spells that they are learning in their first year.. I couldn't do much without them seeming like total geniuses and stuff :P True, Fred and George do some advanced magic, but not insanely advanced :D**

**Hopefully I did well (I was laughing so hard during the exam because I couldn't recognize some of the questions xD) but, then again, I rocked all of the oral examinations :P Good luck with your assignment :)**

**Hope you enjoyed! (PM it shall be :D)**

**LaurenBrown23: Thank you very much for the compliments! I did a while happy dance once I noticed the new review :D It's been getting more and more difficult with English, as it isn't my first language, but hopefully I'm doing well :D I'm glad that you like the story :) I have a reader from Belgium? That's precious :) I'm from Serbia :P**

**Hope you enjoyed!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Welcome ladies and gents!**

**I'd like to give thanks to:**

**Skyrill-Chan and FraulineTraumer for the favs! :)**

**HenriaSownbinder and Emma Hynes for the reviews :D **

**Enjoy!**

**The Doors – People Are Strange (1967)**

During the next week, everyone began feeling the Christmas atmosphere. November was cold and Jack stopped spending the majority of her time outside with Angelina and Alicia. The girls had traded their favorite bench in the open courtyard in favor of a table in the Study Hall. The only downside was that they kept getting shushed, sometimes by other students and sometimes by Madam Pince.

It was strange, because Jack had become used to the cold climate, when the rather mild (compared to the last couple of years) November had come around. It was rainy and foggy, but that didn't matter to the students. They hid inside the castle or bundled themselves into many layers before exiting into the frozen grounds. Jack had slowly lost her habit of getting up before the sun, much to Aras's dismay and Alicia's amusement. Her dormmates had ended up waking her up more than once, which had been a feat to accomplish.

This, of course, meant that Aras had become increasingly moody, sometimes going so far as to refuse to take her letters. Lee kept teasing Jack how she couldn't even calm and train one owl, and that with such success, she shouldn't be thinking of becoming a dragon keeper. This had caused the small witch to stop speaking to the boy for a while.

But, Jack had become even more determined after that comment to withstand the late evening classes, such as Astronomy, and get up as early as possible. So, she had pestered one of the older students to enchant her pillow to wake her up. So far, it was working quite well. Then again, the charm had been getting weaker and weaker as more days passed by.

Jack arrived to breakfast fairly early, her fingers frozen from her rather short visit to the Owlery. She looked around the Great Hall, but most of her fellow first years were still dead asleep. However, she noticed a familiar mop of ginger hair and grinned.

"Morning, Charlie." The small witch said, sitting next to the seventh year. He looked up from his reading material and gave her a food filled grin. Seriously, there were one too many similarities between him and the twins. Then again, Jack wasn't one to talk.

She tossed her father's old leather bag onto the seat next to her and plopped down rather ungracefully. The girl was just about to pile her plate, when Charlie stole it and pushed his paper into her hands.

"Read that." He told her, having swallowed his food. Jack gave him a dubious look, but then remembered that she wasn't talking to the twins, but to Charlie. His smile was contagious and his eyes were twinkling in excitement. Jack felt her stomach do a sharp flip and she grinned right back, opening the news. It had a dragon on its front page (a rather weather beaten black and white Common Welsh Green which was roaring and spitting out fire). Jack's eyes widened at the sight and she immediately flipped to the featured page.

"They're recruiting!" She screamed out in excitement, causing quite a few heads to turn. The small witch then turned to her obsession companion. "They're recruiting!" She yelled once more, straight into his face. Charlie laughed his usual laugh. It was that deep kind. The one that you simply knew was real and it warmed you up from the inside. At least it did Jack. Her face reddened at his gleeful expression.

"They are." Told her the older Weasley, putting the full plate in front of her. Jack's stomach sounded its protest at the foodless state as soon as she looked at the sausages, eggs and toast. Charlie laughed once again, taking the paper from her so she could eat.

"Youh neeth tosh affry." She told him through a mouthful. The redhead gave her a confused expression and Jack chugged down some pumpkin juice. "You need to apply." She repeated, mouth free. Charlie nodded.

"I saw it just now. Thank Merlin that I decided to keep my subscription for the Daily Prophet." He chuckled, continuing his breakfast.

Jack nodded, humming. She swallowed once more. "It's strange that they are recruiting, though. The Romanian Dragon Sanctuary is one of the biggest in the world, no? But they're always packed!" The girl exclaimed. Frankly, she had expected herself to be jealous of the fact that Charlie could get a job there. In fact, by his face, he had expected that reaction, too. But, Jack found herself happy for him. He was a true dragon lover. It would simply be a pity for him not to work with those magnificent creatures. Especially because Charlie was one of those who believed in the best of the reptile, rather than of the wizarding community. He was most certainly going to do his best to ensure their comfort.

"I know!" The redhead exclaimed. It was so good, finally having someone to talk to about these things. He was going to miss the little girl once he left Hogwarts. The kid had grown on him. "They are the biggest, actually."

"I thought that there was a debate between the Romanian and the Wyoming one?" Jack scrunched her nose, drinking some more juice to wash the toast down. Her stomach was finally feeling better.

Charlie nodded. "There was, but now there isn't. The Romanians expanded. That's why they're recruiting." He smiled at her, opening one of the pages in the paper and showing it to her. "They even invested in a kids-friendly summer camp to increase awareness." He handed her the Prophet once more. Jack read the paragraph quickly, almost swallowing it up. This was brilliant! This was perfect! "You need to apply." Charlie returned her words with a smile. He really never stopped smiling, did he?

Jack nodded absent mindedly. She was still in the paragraph. Contact with dragons. Working around the Sanctuary. Getting to know the dragon keepers. With a silly grin on her face, Jack drifted off to imaginary wonderland. Charlie getting up brought her back to earth.

"You're going?" She said, her voice more disappointed that she had wanted it to be. The seventh year nodded.

"I need to go to Hagrid's real quick." He told her with an apologetic glance. "He got some new nifflers and asked me to help out. Kettleburn is getting rather old, not to mention increasingly limbless, so they could use a couple of more hands." The seventh year joked and walked away, grabbing his stuff and a piece of toast in a hurry.

"Wait, Charlie!" Jack yelled, getting up, too. "Your paper!" She stuck the Daily Prophet into the air towards him, but he only gave her a grin around his toast.

"Keep it!" He yelled. "And apply!" And then he was gone. Jack sat back down, smiling to herself. Her face was a bit red, as she clutched the newspaper tightly in her hand. The unfaltering smile stayed on her face as she resumed eating, her eyes never leaving the dragon picture on the page.

"What's got you in a good mood?" Asked Angelina, sitting opposite of her friend. Jack looked up, her cheeks hurting from the smile that just wouldn't go away.

"Nothing much." Jack replied. "Just a camp." Angelina gave her a weird look before glancing at Alicia, who had just joined them. Jack resumed eating, and didn't see the sly nod and grin that Alicia gave her friend.

X

The three girls walked into the greenhouse one, holding their scarves and coats as tight around themselves as possible. The day was windy and the air was quite crisp. Professor Sprout was already there, preparing one pot or the other with her protective gloves. She smiled brightly at the incoming students. Some of them returned the smiles, but most of them were rather frozen and miserable.

"Alright class!" The Professor began. "You can put your coats and books over there. Today we will be having a practical lesson." There was a slight commotion as the first years went back and forth, leaving their things and getting into groups with their friends. They gathered around the table where various potting equipment lay.

Professor Sprout gave one more large, warming smile. Jack liked the woman. She was kind and warm somehow, reminding her of an aunt that she had never had.

"What do you reckon we'll be doing this time?" Asked Alicia, moving to stand beside Jack.

"Hopefully not anything that will get us bitten." Replied Angelina. Her eyes were looking around the greenhouse, searching for the venomous tentacula that she had had a run in with. Jack and Alicia exchanged glances full of suppressed laughter.

"Does anyone know what a spicea rubo is? More commonly known as the spiky bush?" Jack looked around, trying to see if anyone knew. There was complete silence and no hand rose for a while. Professor Sprout had just given up and closed her mouth when Alicia put her hand up. "Yes, dear?"

"It's a type of a bush, Professor. It has spikes that it fires off when attacked." The girl said, a bit uncertainly.

"Excellent, Miss Spinnet! Five points to Gryffindor!" Sprout exclaimed. Jack gave Alicia an incredulous look. The witch in question grinned back.

"We haven't done that yet!" Whispered the dragon obsessed girl in despair. "How do you know that?" She looked guilty. Like she should know it, too, but wasn't paying attention in class.

Alicia smiled and whispered back. "It's in our book. Right next to the Lumos and Lumos Solem spells." Jack wrinkled her nose in concentration.

"But I don't remember Lumos having anything to do with plants?" The small witch said, confused.

"Now!" Professor Sprout successfully silenced the chatter in the room. "Does anyone know how to subdue a spikey bush?" She asked. There was silence once more. However, Alicia didn't raise her hand this time. Fred and George were muttering something in the back, looking at a book. They were the only source of noise in the room besides the couple of interactive (much to the students' disdain) plants. "Weasleys?" Asked Sprout, as that was quickly becoming the most popular way to address them. Except McGonagall. McGonagall was still stubbornly calling them Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley (except when her fuse blew).

"Fire, Professor." One of them replied, looking up for a second.

"Incendio should do the trick." Continued the other.

"Just-"

"have to-"

"watch out-"

"for the spikes, Professor." They ended it together. Jack had been amused by their speech at first. However, the more time she spent with them, the more annoying it became. Professor Sprout looked between the two, as if determining which was which, but then smiled widely.

"Excellent!" She remarked. "Five points to Gryffindor, each." When the twins high fived their friend Lee she frowned a bit at them. "But, do pay attention next time."

"Yes, Professor." They chorused, a bit too sweetly, with identical grins. No, though Jack, they weren't going to amend their ways anytime soon. One of the twins caught Jack's exasperated gaze and made a very obnoxious wink towards her. She stuck her tongue out right back, nose scrunched up.

"They are impossible." Told her Angelina from her other side. "If they know things, why don't they pay attention and get good grades? They're such idiots." The girl remarked in anger, arms crossed. "We could be winning the Cup." Jack tossed a look at Alicia and the other girl shrugged. She knew that Angelina was rather competitive and confident (she was a Hebridean Black, after all) but why did she blame it all on the twins? Sure, they lost a lot of points with their pranks and detention, but they also gained a lot with their knowledge in class. Besides, the House Cup wasn't all that important in Jack's opinion.

"Now, we have practiced the Fire-Making spell, so let's do one more practice before we begin?" Professor Sprout spoke once more. "Wands out!" There was a small scuffle as everyone took their wands and pointed them at the intended objects on the table. Sprout had made them practice on small, inflammable things last time. Now, Jack was staring down her wand at a piece of a broken pot, which she was supposed to light up. "All together!" Sprout instructed.

"Incendio!" Chanted Jack, doing the proper whipping motion with her wand. Her piece of pottery burst into brilliant blue flames and began jumping around from the heat.

"Aguamenti!" Fired Alicia without missing a beat, extinguishing the flames after a bit. "You really need to get a grip on that." The girl told Jack. "Stop imagining dragonfire when you do the spell." She chuckled.

"Can't help it." Replied Jack. "It's the purest form of fire." She grinned at her friend cockily.

"Rubbish." Murmured Angelina, waving her wand around in an attempt to set fire to her pot. "Just imagine a smaller dragonfire. Incendio!" Her piece crackled and then began furiously smoking. "Bloody pot." She cursed, trying again.

"Now, split into groups of thee or four and pick a bush!" Instructed Sprout. Angelina and Jack turned to Alicia expectantly. The witch (who had obviously studied) picked a rather small spiky bush and led their group towards it. "Oh, we have an odd group. Errrr- Mr. Jordan, Weasleys, why don't you join Miss McCarthy and Mr. Fleetwood or Miss Spinnet and her group?" Sprout directed. "Come on, we need to start repotting." Lee grinned at the girls and took his stuff, heading towards them. However Professor Sprout saw the danger in time. "Oh, why don't you get out of your comfort zone, Weasleys? One for each group!" She exclaimed with a smile, her gloved hands on her hips. She gave them a series of quick nods to hurry them up. The twins begrudgingly split up, one heading to the girls and the other sitting with Lee next to the dark haired Ravenclaw named McCarthy.

"Which one are you?" Asked Angelina as soon as the twin sat next to them. His face immediately brightened and he tore his eyes away from his twin (who was already talking to Lee and the others).

"Which one do you think I am?" He said cheekily with a crooked grin. Angelina's frown deepened. She obviously wasn't in a good mood today. Alicia and Jack exchanged amused glances.

"Whichever." Angelina retorted. The twin's grin widened even further. Jack shrugged heading towards the spiky bush.

"Who's repotting and who's doing the charm?" She asked, picking a bigger, new pot for the plant. Professor Sprout kept shouting instructions in the background. Angelina glared at the twin and he smirked at her, happy with his achievement.

"I'll repot?" Asked Alicia, heading towards Jack to get some fertilizer.

"Me too." Angelina walked towards her friend, ignoring the twin now. He turned to Jack with a large smile.

"Guess we're on spike management duty, little dragon." He laughed causing Jack to smirk right back at him.

"Guess we are, George." The twin kept chuckling.

"Wrong guess!" He told her, but took out his wand regardless.

"Right guess." Jack argued, her own wand out and at the ready.

"Oh for the love of Merlin!" Exclaimed Alicia, getting fed up. "Fred!" She yelled across the room, causing the redhead in question to turn and yell back.

"Yes?!"

"Nothing! Just saying hi!" The witch waved and turned to the other twin, now identified as George (though, no one could really be sure, it could be another prank). "Right guess." She told him, high fiving Jack.

George laughed. "Alright, ladies. I'm going to be a true Gryffindor and gallantly allow you to continue your delusion that I am, in fact, my own twin brother." He twirled his wand expertly. "Incendio!" The spiky bush retracted its weapons, which it was getting ready to fire off at Angelina. "Shall we repot this menace now?"

Angelina rolled her eyes and grabbed a shovel.

X

Flying was great. Jack held onto her broom (a really old Cleansweep Three, which had a mind of its own most of the time) as she climbed further up. She didn't mind the age of the broom. Well, it was rather annoying, but she would survive. Madam Hooch yelled for them to come back down and Jack obeyed.

She directed the broom to go lower and then lower, and it did so begrudgingly. It rumbled in a way and trembled annoyingly. Jack frowned. She was a fairly decent flier, growing up with Dragon and all that, but this broom was really limiting her capabilities. With a grin, Jack instructed her broom to go up once more.

"Miss Knight!" Madam Hooch yelled from the ground, but Jack didn't really hear her. There was wind in her ears and in her hair. The familiar feeling of weightlessness took over as she pushed the old broom to go faster, and then faster and even faster. Yes, this was what a dragon felt like. Powerful, free and magnificent, flying in the air like a giant bird.

Jack cut off her broom, sensing that it was finally listening to her. "Let's do something familiar, shall we?" The girl asked her charmed item, suddenly feeling brave. She briefly thought how the twins had influenced her a bit too much, but dismissed it. She was this brave even before knowing them. Maybe not just as bold as she had become?

The broom headed down, making Jack's ears pop due to the fast switch of the pressure. With a smile on her face, the girl watched as the green grass got closer and closer and closer. Then, she let go. The old Cleansweep did a sharp jump and trembled, but stopped, just like it was instructed to.

Jack jumped off with a cheeky smile. She made a guilty face at Madam Hooch right away. "Forgive me, Professor, the broom was crying." The woman's sharp eyes were whipping the small witch into her place, freezing her into the spot. Jack kept looking innocently up.

"Stay after class, Miss Knight." The Madam instructed, turning away from her. "Once more! Mount your brooms!" She told the students loudly. Alicia gave Jack a wide-eyed look. The other girl shrugged, getting back on her broom. She saw Dmitry staring at her from the sidelines, his face a bit green.

X

"Nothing?" Alicia asked, bewildered. "Not even detention?" The girls walked down the corridor together, heading for the Great Hall. Jack shook her head, smiling cheekily to herself.

"Of course not." Angelina grinned from Alicia's other side. "That was some brilliant flying!" She nodded with enthusiasm. "You never told me that you could fly like that!" Obviously, in the absence of a certain twin, Angelina's mood had gone through the roof. Then again, that might have had something to do with their Flying Lesson.

Jack shrugged. "Pa was pretty adamant about me learning how to fly." She replied, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"You're lucky!" Angelina continued excitedly. "My dad isn't a very good flyer, but he tried to teach me. My mom, though. She's amazing! She played Seeker at Hogwarts." The girl rambled on. Alicia noticed someone and split away from the group, heading towards him. Jack caught Angelina's arm, so they would wait for their friend. The witch looked at their blushing friend. "She fancies him." Said Angelina.

"Fancies who?" Asked Jack, dumbfounded.

"Diggory, of course." Giggled Angelina. "Didn't you hear her last night? Cedric this, Cedric that!" Jack tried to recall. True, Alicia had mentioned someone named Cedric. A boy from Hufflepuff, right, Jack remembered. She fancied him?

"Really?" Asked Jack, turning to Angelina. The girl nodded. "Ok." Replied Jack evenly.

"What's with that reaction?" Asked the dark haired girl. Jack didn't reply for a while, watching Alicia twirl her hair and giggle at the Hufflepuff boy.

"Angie, how you know that you fancy someone?"

"Do you think that you fancy someone?" Angelina fired back without missing a beat.

"I don't know. I feel weird." Replied the shorter of the two. "And I have an unidentifiable urge to giggle and twirl my non-existent hair around him." Explained Jack, her eyes still glued to the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff pair.

Angelina's smile spread. She had been waiting for this. After Alicia had told her what she had seen. Well, it was inevitable, she agreed. "Then why don't you tell him that you fancy him?" She asked Jack.

The other girl simply nodded, rather absent-mindedly.

X

Astronomy was a buzz-kill, as usual. Jack dragged her heavy feet towards the common room, her head lolling around, tired. This time, she had paid attention and not gotten left behind. She was walking in between Alicia and Angelina, who were discussing the position of Venus and how it was going to boost their love lives. Jack honestly didn't see the point in their conversation. They seemed to have pretty nice and well thought-through love lives. Her bag seemed to weight too much, digging into her shoulder. She didn't know how she was going to get up the next morning and go see Aras. She needed to adjust her schedule.

"Ugly, right?" Jack overheard the neighboring conversation. "Did you see how she does that thing with her nose?" The girls giggled.

"Looks like a gnome!" Added the other, making Jack's nose relax from its scrunched position immediately. Were they talking about her? She didn't know. Did she really look like a gnome? She knew that she had a habit of scrunching her nose, but her Pa had always told her how cute it looked. On all the photos (as Dragon had gone through a photo-taking insanity phase, like most parents), whenever her younger double would scrunch the nose, it didn't look that bad.

"I bet it will stay that way!" Jack's hands flew up, feeling along the length of her nose. It was rather small, button shaped and completely wrinkle-free.

"Maybe your mouth will stay that way." Angelina suddenly said, much louder than her previous words to Alicia, making the group in front hear her clearly. The girls turned, some of them looking mortified. They were both from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw (as they had Astronomy together). Jack noticed Mary looking to the ground, her face full of guilt.

"What way? It's perfect." Replied the other girl. She, too, was a Gryffindor. She shared a dorm with Jack and the other two. Why was she acting like this? Jack couldn't remember doing anything wrong to her.

"I think so, too." Replied Angelina, puffing her chest out threateningly. Alicia was frowning in the background, as the groups had stopped by then. "Recon, looks rather like a dementor's? Just perfect." Alicia attempted to stifle her laughter. Mary was still pointedly looking to the ground. Jack's nose was scrunched in confusion. The girl in question flipped her hair, like she hadn't even heard the comment.

"Who cares what you think." And then she turned on her heel, robes flying. "Let's go girls." And she led her group away. Angelina turned to Alicia and Jack with a smug smirk.

"That was brilliant!" Alicia praised, high fiving the girl. Jack was still confused. Angelina turned to her.

"You need to learn how to stand up for yourself, you know?" The Quidditch-loving witch said with a small frown. "You can't let her spread all that bull about you."

"I heard her last week telling everyone that all my family was in Slytherin and that I'm a spy in this house. Ridiculous." Commented Alicia as they started walking towards the tower again.

"Did you give her a speech?" Asked Angelina, happily. They seemed to hate their dormmate. Jack frowned. Why were they so happy that they were harming the girl right back?

"Mhm. I told her that if she keeps spreading lies about me, I'd hex her balloon lips to tell the truth at all times." Grinned Alicia. "I think it worked for me."

"True." Angelina nodded. "You really need to grow a pair, Jack." Said the dark haired witch, turning to her short friend. Jack shrugged once more, staying silent. She didn't know what to say.

Angelina and Alicia continued chatting about one thing or another (insert boys and Quidditch) as they walked. But, Jack was in her own world. Why did the girl from her dorm act like that? She didn't know. Why did Alicia and Angelina hate her? She didn't know. She wanted to know.

The moon slowly left the skies, leaving the three Gryffindor girls in the dark. Jack suddenly felt something coil in the pit of her stomach. She sped up her pace, pulling Alicia's hand, to make her hurry up. The small witch could remember the daunting sound of a long, drawn-out scratch chasing her and getting closer. Fear gripped her and she tugged on her friend's hand once more.

"What's wrong, Jack? Stop pulling me. I'm walking!" The witch protested, but Jack had frozen already. Her fear had caught up with them.

There was the familiar, dead silence in the hallway before a long, eerie scratch of something against glass sounded.

"Run!" Jack squeaked.

**That's all for today folks! Sooooo eeeebil! :D**

**If anyone's been paying attention to my song choices, I'd like to tell you guys that most of the previous ones have been about Jack, but this one isn't (which was strange, even to me). Rather, this chapter is highlighting the development of another character :3**

**Do tell me your thoughts in the reviews :)**

**HenriaSownbinder: I'm glad that you liked the prank :D I was a bit torn about it, not knowing whether I was overdoing it or not… But I figured, the twins left Hogwarts with a prank, so they should enter the similar way, no?**

**Dumbledore is always a hard one to write.. I mean, he's a tad insane, but also all royal and everything, I'm always worried about writing him… But, I figured that he would've liked the first prank, but warned the twins not to do it again… He seems to like Fred and George :D**

**I'll see about that… Dragon is rather irresponsible with writing back… We'll see if we can make him tell you guys about the letter somehow :D**

**Hope you enjoyed!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Welcome ladies and gents!**

**I want to wish a Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all of you! Since my family's orthodox (even though I'm atheist xD) I keep forgetting that catholic Christmas comes a bit earlier… So, I'm probably going to end up writing Christmas in Singed during Christmas in Serbia :P**

**Next, let me thank:**

**Idek1998, Naturegirl15, AthenaB and insolitasum for the alerts! I hope you enjoy the new chapter :D**

**And** **HenriaSownbinder and insolitasum for the reviews! I was actually planning to update at the end of the week, but you guys made me hurry it along xD**

**Enjoy!**

**Abba – The Winner Takes It All (1980)**

"What?" Angelina asked, her face confused. But, Jack was already dragging Alicia down the barely lit corridor, which led to the whole group speeding up.

"Jack! What's wrong?" Alicia asked, trying to pull her hand out of Jack's to make the other girl let go. But, Jack's grip was a bit too strong.

Then another screeching scratch sounded and Angelina gave Alicia a terrified look. The first years began running.

"Faster!" Panted Jack and pushed one of the tapestries to the side, leading them down a hidden passage. Angelina and Alicia followed, their fear fueling their speed. As they exited the passage, something clunked in front of them. The first years came to a halt, eyes wide and foreheads sweaty. They barely breathed as they waited for the next sound in the deathly silence. And then an all too familiar voice sounded.

"Where are they, Mrs. Norris?" Angelina's hand grabbed the back of Jack's robes and pulled her back into the passage. Filch! Of all things! Alicia, being the closest to the center of the passage turned her head, trying to hold her breath and listen for the screeching behind them. There were a few moments of tense silence as Filch looked around for the students. "Yes, we will punish them, my sweet." He spoke to his cat. "Hopefully it's those Weasleys again. We'll catch them this time, won't we?" A meow answered him and Angelina breathed a sigh of relief.

A screech sounded not too far away down the narrow passage and Alicia squeaked, pushing Angelina, who pushed Jack. The three flew out of their small hiding place, Filch suddenly seeming like the lesser evil. Thankfully, the caretaker was gone by the time the three first years ran up the stairs like He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself was on their heels. They leapt over the vanishing step and hurried further up. On the top, the girls took a short break, Jack and Alicia panting.

"Come on!" Whispered Angelina, her eyes looking wildly at the bottom of the steps. She was pulling Alicia's sleeve. It was the first time that Jack had seen her strong and confident friend actually terrified. A drawn out scratch sounded, screeching and freezing the blood in their veins.

"Go! Go! Go!" Jack managed to mumble as they rushed towards the tower and the safety of the common room. The other two didn't need any motivation, though, as they were already running like the wind.

Another long, drawn out scratch rang through the silent castle and then bam!

"Ouch!" Jack landed on her bottom, the hard floor giving her a wake-up call. Alicia screamed, turning away. Angelina gasped, raising her arms in a defensive position.

"What are you three doing out of bed?" A rather familiar voice asked, causing Jack to look up. The red mop of hair and the bright eyes on a face filled with freckles greeted her.

"Charlie!" She exclaimed, causing Alicia to turn back towards their attacker. Angelina's arms fell, her face full of relief. "What are you doing?"

Charlie frowned slightly. "I'm patrolling." He told them sternly. "Like I should be." Jack suddenly had a moment of absolute realization. Charlie was a prefect! With a guilty look on her face, she scrambled to get off the floor, her face going beet red when her shaky legs gave out.

"We had Astronomy." Explained Angelina. Her face was still a bit pale and more than a little sweaty from the run. Alicia was nodding furiously in the background. She wasn't releasing a sound, though.

"Yes, um, we got lost when we headed up." Jack filled in, tossing a look at Angelina. She didn't want to lie to Charlie. But, she didn't want detention either. She turned to him once again, seeing the dubious look on his face. He didn't believe her. Jack's already frozen hands (from fear) were shaking now, as the adrenaline slowly left her system. "We tried to take that shortcut? The tapestry on the fourth floor?"

Charlie nodded. His stern face suddenly broke into a smile. "I'm just messing with you." He reached out to help Jack up. She accepted his warm and much larger hand and he pulled her up easily. "We always allow forty to forty-five minutes to pass after Astronomy before we hand out detention to the students that attended that class. " Explained the seventh year. "Let's get you to your dormitory. You shouldn't be out this late."

The three girls gave him enthusiastic nods. Charlie chuckled and led them down the corridor, lighting his wand to make it easier for them. Angelina and Jack exchanged relieved glances as the prefect began talking about one thing or another. The smaller witch was partially listening, though.

"Tell him!" Angelina caught her arm in a vice grip, pinching a bruise into her. Something inside Jack rang out and she squished her initial response.

"Tell him what?" She whispered back. Angelina gave her an incredulous look.

"Are you kidding me?" The confident witch replied with anger. Jack shrugged. She didn't want to tell Charlie. It was her secret. It was her secret with Fred and George. She wasn't going to betray them, even if Angelina got angry at her.

"Angie." Alicia's voice broke their discussion. Their friend was still pale and her voice was tiny. Angelina switched priorities in a second. She threw an arm over her trembling friend, giving Jack one last glare that promised further discussion.

The small witch allowed for her legs to hurry up, catching up to Charlie. He looked down at her with a grin. "Right?" He asked, finishing his story.

Jack managed a shaky smile, shrugging her shoulders. She was feeling terrible.

X

The next morning, Angelina didn't speak to Jack. In fact, that continued for a while. This caused the small witch to get increasingly more and more depressed. Alicia still talked to her, but only when Angelina wasn't around. She had explained to Jack that their friend felt betrayed. Not like the girl didn't understand that. In fact, she understood that perfectly. What she didn't get was, why Angelina didn't want to understand her? She couldn't, no, she wouldn't betray her friends.

Jack came from double Potions absolutely dead tired. Snape was sent from hell to torture them, that was for sure. She noticed Angelina and Alicia sitting with Fred, George and Lee at the Gryffindor table and switched directions immediately. Not speaking to Angelina meant not speaking to anyone that she was with, while she was with them.

Jack had made the mistake of sitting with their usual group a while back. It had been one awkward breakfast, full of angry, pitying and confused looks. Jack had ended up leaving with some food for Aras and eating in the Owlery. Now, she remembered something else and chose her alternative.

"Afternoon." She greeted Scott Lawrence, a sweet boy from Hufflepuff and her DADA seatmate, and settled down beside him with a smile.

"K-Knight!" He scrambled to his feet, trying to simultaneously move his books to make more room for her. "Hi!" Jack saw the way he nervously glanced behind them at the twins.

"They won't hex you." She told him, leaning in with a grin. "I promise." The boy nodded a bit shakily, but then smiled at her again. Jack liked sitting next to him. He was nice, smart and didn't make fun of her. All of that summed up equaled perfect company. Because of the fact that Jack had been feeling terrible because of her fight with Angelina, Lawrence was just what she needed.

"I see you survived your Potions." He joked, continuing his lunch. Jack gave a nod and started piling up her plate. A boy settled opposite of her, looking from her to Lawrence and then back.

"Hi?" He asked, a bit unsure. Lawrence looked up immediately.

"Cedric!" He grinned. "This is my friend from Gryffindor, Knight." He turned to Jack then. "That's my mate, Cedric, we share a dorm." Jack accepted the boy's hand over all the food, nodding. She swallowed her bite and spoke.

"Jack Knight, pleasure." Briefly, she connected this boy in her mind with the one that Alicia liked. Yes, Angelina had- Angelina. Jack felt her face fall.

"Cedric Diggory, we've met." Jack looked up again, seeing his unsure face. Obviously, he had noticed her sad face.

"Sorry." She said, finally letting go of his hand. "I had a fight with one of my friends, it's not you."

"Ah." Diggory exclaimed, looking a bit awkward. Lawrence poured them all some pumpkin juice.

"We've met?" Jack asked once more, feeling a bit bad that she didn't remember him. Diggory nodded.

"You threw a mudball at me." The boy told her.

"Ah." Jack replied, suddenly finding her meal to be very interesting. Lawrence looked between them awkwardly. Not even one of his sweet smiles could fix this.

X

It was on Saturday, during breakfast, that Aras flew in with the other owls. He obviously wasn't a very friendly one (nor was he trying to amend his ways) as he kept snapping his beak left and right. Jack smiled at him as he landed in front of her, though. The giant bird extended his leg, waiting for his owner to take the parcel off.

He didn't leave when she did, tough, but he settled on the table in front of her. It was early and not many people were at breakfast. Jack was sitting at the Gryffindor table alone before the owl had arrived. She had been re-reading the article that Charlie had given her and writing her application slowly. She had begun to prefer being alone once more.

"Morning." She greeted the bird. "How was your flight?" Aras noticed his owner's distress and nipped at her hand, making her finger bleed slightly. "As bad as my week, then." Jack deduced, opening the parcel. Not even the familiar scrawl of her father's quill made her any happier. She was somehow, numb. She didn't know that fighting with friends was this painful.

Opening the Daily Prophet that was also in the box, she read the giant title.

…_Scarlet Dragon of the Ballycastle bats settles down!_

_Witches (and even some wizards) this is a very important piece of information that comes straight from our reliable sources! The infamous bachelor, Scarlet Dragon (Claude Knight), has purchased a house in Ullswater, Lake District, exact address unknown. However, he was kind enough to give us an exclusive interview._

"_It wasn't my decision, really." Dragon says. "It was Samhain!" And then he leaves to continue his coaching. While his words were cryptic, we don't doubt that…_

Jack felt her eyes water. He had done it. He had bought them a house. She had a home. "Yes!" Jack jumped up, both of her hands shooting into the air, newspaper still clutched in one. Suddenly, nothing seemed so bad. The fight with Angelina looked like a minor setback. She was going home. She was going home, to her own house, for Christmas!

Aras hooted at his owner's weird behavior. Jack smiled at him, and then reached over to give him an excited pat on the head. "We're going home for Christmas!" She told the owl. He obviously didn't get why his mistress was happy once more, but he was glad that she was.

Jack placed a piece of her napkin on the wounded finger and then continued rummaging through the parcel. She had gotten some more sweets (including Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, as usual) and a letter from her dad. She opened it excitedly.

_My only midget,_

_Good job! Minnie was furious! Then again, she always is for some reason… Angry looks good on her! Next time, you should also get the plates and cutlery to dance and sing. That's a pretty good spell, easy to use._

_Anyways, I believe that we have a draw? I bought a little present that you asked for and gave an interview about it._

Jack smiled, thinking about her request for him. She had simply written 'I can't wait to come home'. Her Pa really was the best in the world!

_You're going to love it! I'll see you soon?_

_I'm so lucky,_

_Pa_

X

"Miss Knight." Called out Madam Hooch, making the girl stop and then wave to her study buddy from Ravenclaw that she had been walking with.

"Yes, Madam?" Jack asked, heading towards the woman.

"Slytherin-Gryffindor is this weekend, Miss Knight. The first game of the season. We need to prepare the pitch and ready all the equipment." Madam Hooch explained. "Is there a time when you are free to help?"

Jack remembered suddenly. Right, the woman had asked her to do that. Apparently, the boy that had been helping Madam Hooch around the pitch had graduated last year. Now, she needed another student to give her a hand. Seeing as Jack was the daughter of a Quidditch star and was bound to know a lot more than a thing or two about the sport (and after witnessing her flying a few weeks ago) the Professor had decided to recruit her. Jack had agreed. This was a chance to get some more points for their house, after all! She had lost a bit too many in Potions for her liking, (and it didn't look like she would be losing any less in the future).

"I only have first and second period all week. I can come anytime, really, Madam." Jack explained. Madam Hooch seemed to pause for a moment.

"Wednesday, then? Stay after class and we will finish everything in a jiffy!" And with that the woman left without waiting for an answer. Jack nodded to herself, heading towards the Study Hall. She had Transfiguration homework to complete. Somehow, due to the fact that Alicia was spending most of her time with Angelina, Jack had lost her habit of attempting to study. Now, she just kind of sat and stared at the passages in her book (she still needed to complete her elaboration of at least three ways to use the Avifors Spell).

Jack plopped down, hoping to be left alone to her misery (Transfiguration), but, luck wasn't on her side that day. Despite being a bit more cheerful due to the fact that her Pa had bought them a home in Great Britain, loneliness was slowly getting to Jack.

Maybe it was her fault? Now that she thought about it, Angelina wasn't the only one not speaking to her. Dmitry. Yes, her first friend. The beautiful Opaleye. Maybe she was really doing something wrong? She didn't know a lot about how to be friends with people. Didn't being friends mean guarding their secrets with your life? Then, why was it wrong that she wanted to guard the one that she had with twins?

And Dmitry, she really didn't understand why he hadn't come around. They had been getting along quite well, until he stopped talking to her. Even that day, in Potions, as they made their concoction, he merely asked her to do this and then that. He would occasionally catch her hand, when she was about to put something into the potion that would blow it up. Maybe she was better off alone after all.

"Hello there, ickle Howler." Fred dropped into the seat to her right.

"How does the lady fare this fine afternoon?" Wanted to know George, plopping to her left. Jack didn't answer. This was like adding fuel to the fire.

"Seems like ickle Howler has lost her voice."

"Seems so, Forge."

"What should we do about it, Gred?"

"I don't know! I've never had a Howler before!"

"Liar, we've had quite a few of them."

"Not one like this."

"True." They chorused finally. Jack slammed her book closed and stood up, grabbing all of her things in a hurry. She didn't want to be around the two right now. She simply wasn't in the mood to be in between the two obnoxious twins.

"Seems we've set her off." Said George.

"Blimey." Commented Fred.

"Girls." They said to each other at the same time, jumping up as well. The two managed to catch up to Jack in the corridor.

"Wait! Hey!" Fred called out, trying to fall in step with her, but the girl was fast. George reached out.

"Jack!" The girl stopped, turning around. Her eyes were red and she didn't look too friendly. Fred and George exchanged glances, silently talking with their eyes. Jack glared at them.

"Thanks." She remarked with sarcasm. "That's precisely what I needed." The small girl turned away from the twins, preparing to walk away when the two grabbed her arms simultaneously, making her do a small circle and go their way.

"We'll-"

"get you-"

"exactly what-"

"you need." They ended together.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about it." Added the one to her left, whichever he was.

"Our ickle Howler." Commented Fred, who was to her right, patting her head gently, as if she was a dog.

"I'm not your pet." Jack bit out, angry, but having already given up. The twins were a force of nature. They led her down a series of corridors, some known to her and some not, but Jack stopped paying attention. No matter how annoyed she was at them, she trusted these two. They had saved her once already. And, they had helped her quite a few times, which she had returned by lying and covering for them from time to time. Besides, after implementing a large scale prank (such as the one that they had done at Hallows' Eve) with someone, you begin to trust them.

"Now, Miss Knight-" Began George. Fred walked a bit forward, touching the painting in front of them. This meant that he had let go of Jack's arm, which she shook out in an attempt to wake it up from the twin's grip.

"We are proud to-" Continued Fred, as usual. Jack looked around to find them in a corridor leading to the basement. She had been here only once, when she had waited for Lawrence to get his Charms book.

"Present to you-" The painting in front of them moved towards the inside.

"The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry-"

"Kitchens!" Squeaked Jack, as the door had fully opened. Her eyes wide, she walked in, looking around the room in wonder. The twins followed her, sharing a knowing, smug look.

The room was huge! It resembled the Great Hall a lot, having four tables, just like the ones in the Hall. However, it had piles and piles of pots and plates, too, something that the Hall definitely didn't have. They were all glittering in the light of the large fireplace that lay deep in the room, behind where the teachers' table was placed in the Hall.

Jack gaped without any shame. It was fantastic! No wonder Fred and George always ate less at meals. They must come here for snacks all the time. With a grin on her face, Jack turned back to the twins. They greeted her with identical smiles.

"Sir Weasley and sir Weasley!" A tiny voice squeaked from somewhere below Jack, which was quite a feat to accomplish. The witch looked around, and then finally saw the small creature. It was rather thin, with spindly arms and legs. Its oversized head had two large, bat-like ears and huge, curious eyes, about the size of tennis balls. The creature was wearing an old rag, which Jack managed to identify as a pillowcase when she looked closely.

"Hello, Ditty." George greeted. Jack scrunched up her nose.

"Like a song?" She asked.

"Yes, miss! Like a song, miss! Ditty likes songs, miss!" The small creature squeaked back. Jack stared. She couldn't even determine if it was male or female. Suddenly, guilt overcame her.

"That's a lovely name, Ditty. I'm Jack." She introduced, extending her hand to the small thing. She saw Fred facepalm out of the corner of her eye, but thought nothing of it. However, she soon saw why he'd done that.

"Miss is too kind!" Squeaked Ditty, huge eyes watering. The small thing suddenly burst into tears. Jack turned to the twins. 'Help!' She mouthed. Fred wasn't looking at her, he had been distracted by a tray of cookies. George shrugged, as if telling her that she had gotten into that one on her own.

"Ditty, errr, could you stop crying, please?" Jack asked politely once more. The house elf began sobbing and dry heaving, but slowly, the tears stopped.

"Miss is too kind." It repeated. Jack wondered if it was male or female once more. She didn't want to ask. If she did, maybe the elf would burst into another bout of tears. "Can Ditty do anything for you, sirs, miss?" Jack looked to the twins for help again.

This time, Fred walked forward, leading Jack to one of the tables. "Sure, Ditty, maybe some hot chocolate?" The redhead said. George nodded.

"She just had a hard day. Anything sweet should help." The small creature nodded excitedly, its ears flapping about wildly.

"Right away, sirs!" And then, it was gone. Jack looked around noticing the other elves that were bustling about, preparing food. The twins led her to one of the tables and settled down. Soon, Ditty came back with two other elves carrying trays full of biscuits, three mugs full of hot chocolate with whipped cream on top and various other sweet snacks. With numerous bows, the three creatures left to get back to their daily work.

"Don't they mind us?" Jack asked as the twins helped themselves to the snacks. "I mean, don't we interrupt their work?" She reformed her question, still looking around at the numerous elves. She suddenly felt strange about eating her food at Hogwarts. She valued it so much more.

"Not really." Replied the twin on her left. Jack believed that he was Fred.

"They like the company." Said George (at least she thought that he was George).

"As long as you don't try to stop them from working."

"But, isn't this slavery?" Whispered Jack, as if it was rude to say it out loud. As if the creatures were enslaved, but didn't know that they were.

"Totally." Said George.

"Most definitely." Confirmed Fred.

"They don't mind it, though." George bit the head off of his muffin man and began playing with it.

"They like to work here." Fred confirmed once more, pushing some biscuits towards Jack and handing her one of the mugs full of hot chocolate. "Try some. Chocolate makes everything better." Jack nodded, taking a sip from her steaming beverage. It was sweet and it warmed up her insides. Suddenly, she felt a bit better. Then again, that might've had something to do with the twins' constant positive energy. She felt grateful to them then. Strange, how the two troublemakers had turned out to be great company.

"Soooo-" Began George.

"Are you gonna try to-" Took over Fred.

"Bite our heads off again?" Ended George. Jack felt like she was following a Ping Pong match.

"Depends." She admitted, lowering her cup. "Are you going to ask me a stupid question?" The twins shared a look, doing their eye conversation thing again. Jack tried to see if they actually moved their facial muscles, or actually talked with their eyes. But, the two were a bit too fast.

"Not really." George said.

"We weren't going to ask anything stupid the first time, either." Fred tried to convince her. He stole one of the cookies and plopped it into his mouth.

"We wanted to talk about that potion, you know." George said, nodding along. He drank some more of his chocolate, enjoying it. The whipped cream from the top stayed above his lip, creating a moustache. Jack giggled at the sight, but didn't tell him.

"I looked at the ingredients and instructions." Jack confirmed, taking a bite out of one of the cookies. It was sweet. She was going to be on a sugar high. No wonder these two were always so happy. "It'll take at least a half a month to actually brew it. And, we still need to get all the ingredients. And to leave the fairywater to bathe in the light of a new, full and crescent moon, so that will take a month by itself." Fred's frown was deepening and George looked like a kicked puppy. "But, I'm willing to begin in December and take the ingredients home with me to finish preparing them." The small witch explained. Fred and George lit up like two identical, red light bulbs.

"Great!" Exclaimed one.

"Brilliant!" Said the other.

"Let's raid Snape!" They chorused mischievously. Jack shook her head at their nature. It seemed that they couldn't help themselves. Mayhem may as well be their middle name.

"Wait." Jack halted their evil plans. "I have one more question." The two looked at her expectantly. "Is Ditty a male of a female?"

**That's all folks!**

**Now, I promise to be short:**

**I have to admit that I was playing with the whole 'chocolate makes it all better in Harry Potter' thing :P**

**I'm sorry if these chapters seem like fillers, they aren't. I'm slowly developing characters. Jack is getting used to being with other people her age. Fred and George are learning not to be that obnoxious. Angelina is mad at her friend. Alicia chooses sides. Dmitry is being an assbut. Lots of stuff happening :D **

**I'm also reading the Sorcerer's stone as I'm writing this, to see when what happens, so, do correct me if I mess up the timeline xD I'm a bit of a perfectionist… The potion that Jack will be making is all me, as there aren't any listed with dragon's blood.**

**And onto the reviews!**

**HenriaSownbinder: Thankfully, Dumbledore isn't the focus of the story. Sigh of relief. He was an awesome character, though :) The most troubling thing is the speech in the beginning of the year, I think… I know that I spent at least an hour figuring out what to write xD**

**Yeah, Fred and George aren't the subtle kind :P I like playing with the things from the book a bit :D**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Insolitasum: Your review made me so happy! I love it when someone likes my song choices xD I suppose I'm a bit of an OCD, as I choose all the songs that existed in the year in question. Then again, I also listen to the oldies :P**

**I found the twins to be a bit of a challenge in the beginning, but, as I keep writing, I find myself getting more or less easily into their shoes :D I don't want to overly focus of my OC, but this is her story :P Fred and George will become a very important part of it… wait, they already are invading it xD**

**I hope you enjoyed!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Welcome ladies and gents!**

**Le gasp! Another fast update… what is this world coming to?**

**Anyways, my thanks to AthenaB and HenriaSownbinder your reviews made me update so fast xD**

**Enjoy!**

**Billy Idol – Dancing with myself (1980) or The Weird Sisters – Do the Hippogriff**

During the next week you could practically feel the tension in the air. With the Quidditch season starting you slowly had to let go of the friends that you had in other houses in favor of cheering for your own. Luckily, Jack wasn't having this dilemma. As the first match, Gryffindor versus Slytherin, rolled around, she noticed Dmitry becoming even less talkative in Potions (if that was even possible). He hadn't even warned her not to put three drops of Lethe river water in when she had. This had caused their potion to turn a very violent red and explode. Snape had been absolutely delighted to give them a zero. For some reason, despite the fact that Dmitry was a Slytherin, the Potions Master didn't like him.

For Jack, days weren't that lonely. Somehow, the twins kept spending more and more time with her during her dispute with Angelina. It seemed like they always had one more ingredient to give her or another question to ask her. Fred had even accepted her plea and checked her Transfiguration homework for her. It was hilarious, the twin had actually sat down, reading it and marking different places (his handwriting was absolutely horrendous and barely readable), while George had chatted with Jack about the Softening Charm that they were going to learn after the small break. Obviously, the twins were looking forward to pranking Filch with it.

She would catch Alicia's eyes in the corridors, but the witch never left Angelina's side to talk to Jack. She would smile at the smaller witch, who would give her own smile back. Jack really tried to understand. Her father had always told her 'hatred is born from misunderstanding'. And Jack knew that her Pa was a wise and successful man, no matter how silly he acted sometimes (most of the time, really). She had tried to understand Angelina's side of the argument. She had thought about it a lot.

In fact, she had even talked to Aras about it. The bird hadn't been too happy about that, but it had hooted here and there in response. Now, Jack didn't know what to do. Fred and George were staying away from that subject like it was a raging Horntail. Alicia had obviously chosen a side and was sticking with it. Jack didn't really want to bother Lawrence with her problems, as the sweet Hufflepuff had already been a lifesaver, sitting with her almost all the time (despite Diggory's clear dislike for her). And Dmitry was out of question, as usual. Maybe a month and a half back, he would've been her first choice for this kind of a conversation, but now, well, not really. So, this led to Jack keeping it all inside.

After their Flying lesson, Madam Hooch called out for Jack to stay behind. By the smug looks that Renshaw and Nettlebed gave her (though, the latter's looked more like a stupid attempt to swallow her with his eyes), they all thought that she had detention with their flying instructor. Jack smiled happily at them, despite her low mood. She even gathered the guts to give Angelina a wave as the girl passed. This caused the other girl to give her a death glare and speed up.

"What the heck is wrong with you?!" Alicia whisper-yelled, catching Jack's elbow. The small witch shrugged.

"I'm not doing anything wrong." She replied a bit too coldly. Jack saw the way her friend's eyes softened.

"I'd just gotten her to admit that you might have your reasons for being silly! Don't provoke her!" Jack stared in disbelief. Being silly? Friendship was silly? A promise to a friend was silly? Who in the world had she provoked?

Icefire-like rage rose inside of her at the other girl's words. Was this how friendship was? Full of lies and betrayal and silly drama? Did people really not value their promises? Was it only like that in the movies? Or maybe her father was foolish? No, her father couldn't be foolish. His friends were true. Maybe it was Jack? Yes, it had to be her.

She wrenched her elbow out of Alicia's grip, the cold anger that she hadn't had in a while consuming her. "There's only one person being silly here, Alicia, and it isn't me." Her anger faltered a bit once she saw the sad and hurt look in her friend's eyes, but that was quickly consumed by rage, too. "I will never, ever, break my promises. Even if I have to die for it."

Alicia stared in disbelief. Jack pushed her away then and headed towards Madam Hooch, who was gathering brooms. The dark haired witch walked towards the common room. She couldn't believe it. She had known that Jack was a strong person. After all, all those cruel rumors about her father or her never seemed to bother her. The small witch would always laugh them off or pretend that she didn't hear them. Alicia had thought that to merely be because of her ignorance. But, she had been wrong.

Even after leaving Jack to fend for herself and picking to stay with Angelina (she thought that she could calm their friend and get her to see reason), she had expected the small witch to come running to her sooner or later. That hadn't happened. In fact, the more Jack was left to her own devices the stronger she seemed to become. True, Alicia had noticed her friend's red eyes the first couple of days. She had heard her cry in her sleep and felt increasingly guiltier with each day.

But, today Jack had overcome all of Alicia's expectations. The girl had spoken about death, something that neither first year could actually fathom, with such conviction, such passion that it had scared Alicia. She had never known someone who felt so strongly about something that most people took for granted. Then, she remembered. Jack had grown up on her own, without friends. She had grown up idealizing the mere subject of friendship and promises. It was no wonder that she felt strongly about it. Alicia had been expecting strong, but not this strong. She hadn't been expecting the storm in Jack's eyes.

X

"Yes, just test them." Madam Hooch told her. "We had a case a couple of years ago when someone enchanted a Bludger to chase only the opposite team." Jack nodded, carrying the box with Quidditch balls over to the center of the, now freshly mowed and readied, pitch. "Here you go." The woman handed her a Beater's bat and took one for herself. Jack opened the box and the Bludgers immediately began struggling to get out. Jack couldn't help it, despite her bad mood and not too Quidditch obsessed nature, she got excited.

In one smooth motion, she undid the straps and released the two violent balls. They shot into the air, one heading towards Hooch and the other towards Jack. The small witch caught her attacker with her bat, sending it away from herself. Then, she ran to her broom and jumped on it, taking to the skies.

The air greeted her. Yes, she had always liked this feeling. The November wind was cold, biting her face as she climbed up on the old Cleansweep. The ride wasn't perfect, that was for sure, but it was exhilarating. She felt the excitement bubble in her stomach and allowed the general happiness of flying spread through her tired body. This was what a dragon felt like. Right now, she was a dragon. Right now, she was unbeatable. Jack whipped out the Beater's bat and slammed the Bludger away from her with impressive force for her frame. The ball headed for the hoops and made a circle around the pitch before heading towards Madam Hooch.

The woman (who had definitely played Quidditch professionally before) slammed it towards the student once more. Jack was ready. She received it and sent it upwards, straight into the skies.

X

The Bludger seemed to come from nowhere, hurling itself towards Charlie. Jack jumped up onto feet once more. She climbed onto her seat in the stands, waving her scarlet flag around as the Gryffindor Chaser sped right in front of her, holding the Quaffle. Lawrence tried to steady the jumping girl, but if didn't work. She was a bit too excited.

"Go Charlie!" Jack cheered. Gryffindor was leading with forty points ahead of the Slytherin team. Jack felt excitement bubble inside and began jumping on her bench once more. Then, there was a flash of something gold in her field of vision.

Everyone was yelling, and so was she. The noise of the match was deafening. Briefly, she could hear the dull voice of the seventh year that was relaying the match. The girl seriously needed to cheer up. She sounded like a half-revived zombie.

"Snitch! It's the Snitch!" Yelled Jack, grabbing Lawrence and shaking him. He laughed along, not really knowing what to do with the overly excited girl.

"I can see that!" He yelled over the roar of the crowd. Jack whooped again as Charlie and the Slytherin Seeker, who she didn't know, headed towards the golden ball. The small witch jumped again, slipping on the bench slightly. Thankfully, Lawrence steadied her. "Be careful!" He yelled again, but it fell on deaf ears.

When he looked to the short haired girl he saw her eyes become wide, her mouth open in anticipation and then she yelled out, even before the crowd and the commentator. Her delighted, red from cold, face then turned to him and she yelled.

"We won!" The small girl hugged him as the crowd cheered left and right. Obviously, she had gotten into the game a bit too much. Lawrence laughed, accepting her hug. Jack jumped down from her seat and then hugged him once more, hopping up and down. "We won!" The roar of the crowd was deafening.

"You did!" Confirmed Lawrence as Jack reached up and kissed his cheek in excitement.

"We won!" She repeated for the thousandth time to the, now dumbfounded, boy. "I need to find Fred and George!" She yelled out and left him there in the stands to hold his cheek, face going a tomato red.

X

That evening the Gryffindor Common room went insane. There was music and dancing. Someone brought snacks from the kitchens (and Jack had a very good suspicion of who it was). The witch ended up squished in between Mary, the shy Gryffindor girl, and a fourth year boy that she didn't know. However, as the party took off, Fred and George decided that it was their duty to make her legs fall off.

They forced her to get up and to dance to every single wizarding hit (especially during the 'Do the Hippogriff' by the Weird Sisters). Occasionally, they would take a drink break and then keep jumping around. The twins had absolutely 'exceptional' dancing skills which involved shoving and pushing everyone around them with their flailing arms. The ruckus continued well into the night but Jack didn't really pay attention to it. She was having a blast.

She had never been on a high like this. The excitement of the match was still rushing through her and Fred and George were simply contagious with their energy. Now, not even the fact that she was fighting with Angelina could get her down.

It the end, someone played Celestina Warbeck (much to the amusement of the students), but no one changed the song. Most people had gone to bed, though, as the next day was a Monday. Jack ended up dancing comically with George, as Fred and Lee created their own duo. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) the party was broken up by McGonagall. Their Head of house stormed in with a stern expression and sent them all to bed, confiscating the music.

"Best. Party. Ever." Giggled Jack as she headed towards her bed with Lee and the twins.

"I'll drink to that!" Confirmed Lee. The twins exchanged glances, doing their eye-talk.

"You are still young." Said one twin, caressing his chin in a 'wise' manner.

"You still haven't seen the wonders of his world." Added the other, waggling his eyebrows at Lee. Jack burst into laughter. Lee shook his head.

"You two are ridiculous!" She told them, heading into the opposite direction, towards her bed. "Night."

"Sleep tight!" Yelled out one twin.

"Don't let the bed moles bite!" Added the other.

"It's bugs, you plank." Murmured Lee.

"Are you sure it's not moles?"

"Weasleys! Jordan! To bed!" Jack stifled her laugher as she shut the door to her dorm.

X

Professor McGonagall went around the Gryffindor table during breakfast that week. She had a list where she noted down everyone who was staying at Hogwarts for the holidays. Jack was a bit surprised to see Lee writing his name down. McGonagall seemed rather relieved when the twins rejected the list.

"Give my regards to your father, Miss Knight." The stern, but not unkind, witch told Jack when the girl also rejected the list.

"Of course, Professor." The small witch promised, a bit surprised. Didn't Professor McGonagall hate her father? Or at least strongly dislike him? Why would she want to send him her regards? Never the less, Jack would tell her Pa. No doubt, he was going to be delighted that 'his Minnie' had remembered him.

"Happy Holidays, Professor." Called out one of the twins, George, Jack suspected. Professor McGonagall gave him nod and continued on her way.

"Mate, why're you staying in the castle?" Asked the other twin. Lee pushed away his homework and closed his ink bottle.

"My parents decided to take a sabbatical. You know, one for themselves." Replied the boy with dreadlocks.

"Yuck." Chorused the twins. Lee nodded along.

"Well, we're going home." Said George.

"I think you made McGonagall's day when you didn't sign the list." Told him Jack. Lee laughed and dug into his already cold breakfast. It was strange how well she was getting along with the trio.

"True." Confirmed Fred with a cocky grin. Obviously, they weren't going to go away quietly.

"Hey, have you seen Towler recently?" Asked Lee. George shook his head.

"No. It's been a while since I've seen him." Replied Fred. "Doesn't he have a cousin in Ravenclaw?" Jack followed their conversation with interest, despite her open book. Wasn't Towler their dormmate?

"You should ask him." Added George. Lee nodded, mouth full of bacon. Fred let go of the parchment that he had been playing with. It started jumping around the table and biting everyone that had their hands in its path. George and Lee laughed.

"What do you need that git for, anyways?" Asked Fred. Lee drank some juice, but Jack answered before he could.

"Not everyone you don't like is a git, Fred." She told him, closing her book. For some reason, not even the mating rituals of the Ridgeback could cheer her up. Fred made a face in her direction.

"I'm George, silly girl." He argued. Jack snorted. She wasn't going to play their game again. "What?" The twin kept up his act. "You think that you can tell us apart?" He dared. He had actually dared her. Jack looked up from her plate, locking eyes with the freckled boy that she was pretty sure was Fred.

"I can't tell you apart." She replied, enjoying his look of triumph. "But, i can make an educated guess." She told him.

"How do you know that I'm not Fred?" Asked the other twin. Jack smiled at him now, staying silent. Lee got up, taking all of his things with him.

"I'll see you later." He waved, receiving nods in return. Jack was still locked in a staring contest with George. The twin was bouncing his leg, waiting. However, the small witch wouldn't give. She was smirking, glad that she had finally gotten under their skin somehow. They were always the ones with the advantage. Now, she finally had the good cards!

A clank was heard and juice spilled all over the table. "Bugger!" Exclaimed the other twin, Fred, in Jack's opinion. The two looked to see him trying to pick up his goblet and stop the juice from spreading.

"You alright, Freddie?" So, she had been right! Jack couldn't stop the small smile of victory that spread on her face. George took out his wand and vanished the liquid. Jack stared at him.

"That's O.W.L. level!" She exclaimed. George gave her a grin. Someone cursed very loudly down the table causing Jack to look. Sure enough, there was the juice, all over some poor Gryffindor fifth year. "You tosser."

"What?" Defended the twin. "He's a fifth year, he can vanish it himself." Jack shook her head, looking back to Fred. He was focused on his goblet, thoughts far away.

"Fred?" The small witch asked, extending her hand to touch his, sticky from juice, one. She squished the feeling of OCD creeping into the back of her skull.

"Mmm?" The twin asked, not looking away from the goblet.

"Are you alright?" Asked Jack gently, as if afraid to scare him. She tossed a questioning look at George who shrugged. She looked back at the boy in front of her.

"I'm fine." He replied finally looking up with a crooked grin. But, it seemed somehow off. He was a bit paler than usual. And, Jack had noticed him dozing off in class, too.

"Are you sleeping alright?" She wouldn't be deterred.

"Blimey, woman!" Fred exclaimed, finally sounding like himself, causing George to grin widely at him. "What are you, my mother?" And then he began packing.

"We're going to be late for class." Said George, also taking his books. Jack raised her eyebrow at them, before remembering that they had Charms, which the twins actually attended on time (unlike most of the other subjects).

X

Jack felt weird about packing her trunk. The dorm was empty, as Alicia and Angelina had cleared out as soon as she had come in, and the other three girls were in the Study Hall. Jack placed all of her books into the trunk, preparing to review over the holidays. Though, something told her that with her Pa present, she was going to be doing everything but that. The small witch also carefully cleared out and made room in her luggage for the potion ingredients. She had bathed the fairywater in the moonlight twice. Soon, everything would be ready for her to begin brewing. She still needed the twins to get her some star grass, which they were boasting that they could. Jack doubted it. She would have to abuse her father's name and order it.

The door opened as the witch was folding her clothes carefully and a girl from her dorm, Mary, entered. Mary was a short girl, a bit taller than Jack, with pale blonde hair that came all the way down her back and chocolate eyes. She was rather shy and quiet and mostly hung out with the other two girls that shared the dorm with them. The Gossiping Duo.

Jack didn't want to open that can of worms. She tried to stay out of their way as much as possible, and in exchange, they sought her out to the best of their abilities. Something about her, which she couldn't identify, made her a nice target for them. She mostly didn't care, because those two could only run their mouths. True, in the beginning their gossiping had made her self-conscious, but now, she was mostly indifferent. Angelina used to get mad and stand up for her. Yes, Angelina. Jack sighed, dropping the blue shirt into her trunk.

"Are you going home for Christmas?" Asked Mary suddenly. Jack looked up to see the girl sitting on her bed, watching the smaller witch pack. Mary didn't talk to her often. She talked to Alicia and Angelina, but not Jack.

"Yes." The witch replied. "Pa said that he would take some time off during the holidays this year." There was silence for a moment as Jack kept packing. Mary simply sat there, watching her. For a brief moment, Jack wondered if the girl was spying on her for the other two or maybe planning a prank. Then, she pushed those thoughts away. Despite her unfortunate choice of company, Mary was a sweet girl. She wouldn't do something like that. And she definitely wasn't Fred nor George, so pranking was out of question. "Are you staying?"

The blonde nodded. "My family is going to France to visit my sister. She got a job in Lyon." Mary explained with a smile. She was really pretty, thought Jack.

"Why aren't you going? Don't you want to see your sister?" Jack asked, dropping her skirt into the trunk and then pausing. Mary looked down at her lap.

"We don't have a lot of money, so we can't afford a big trip. Only my parents are going." She seemed ashamed of her situation. Jack smiled.

"Then you should go next time!" The smaller witch told her. "I've only been to Paris, but France was amazing." Mary nodded, staying silent. There was a moment where no one spoke and Jack simply folded clothes and tossed them into her trunk. "It doesn't really matter how much money your folks have." The witch spoke suddenly. "We have a lot, yet my Pa works all the time. I'd trade that money for more time with him anytime." She smiled sadly at the expensive beige cashmere jumper in her arms.

"Thanks, Knight." Jack barely heard it. She kept folding her clothes, feeling a bit better. Maybe, just maybe, she had made a new friend.

X

Jack walked towards the Hogwarts Express, her eyes wide. She looked back, seeing the Hogwarts castle in the background. She was torn between leaving and staying somehow. Sure, she knew that she was coming back, but she would also miss the giant school. Somehow, over the last couple of months, it had become a second home to her.

"Miss Knight." Jack turned to see Professor Vasilescu. She was dressed in beige robes with silver and white designs all over them. A fur scarf in the same colors was around her neck, along with a cap on her head and a muff on her delicate hands. Her pale hair shimmered in the morning sun. It was cold and she didn't seem one bit bothered by it.

Jack shivered, her breath becoming a white puff in the air as she spoke. "Yes, Professor?" Vasilescu smiled that cryptic smile of hers, eyes full of mirth. She sometimes reminded Jack of Professor Dumbledore.

"You better hurry along. Have a wonderful Christmas." Jack grinned.

"Thanks!" She headed towards the doors of the train. It was no wonder that Vasilescu was among her favorite teachers. She was beautiful, smart and amazing! Jack wanted to be just like Vasilescu when she grew up.

"Knight!" Exclaimed Lawrence, suddenly appearing next to Jack. "Here, let me." The boy helped her push up her trunk and then pull it into the train. Then, they repeated the process with his. He panted and they headed down the train together, looking for a compartment. "Looking forward to the holidays?" Lawrence asked, making small-talk.

"Yes!" Jack replied. Her mood had gone from solemn to giddy in a day. Her talk with Mary had somehow cheered her up. And, the fact that Dragon was simply a ride away now made her excited and a bit worried. What if she had changed a lot? What if he was disappointed about her grades? What if he didn't want to take time off for Christmas?

"Me too." Lawrence kept talking, not noticing that the witch had gone into her personal worry-land. "My folks are having a traditional Christmas this year. They are telling everyone how I'm a wizard and all that." He explained with a small blush.

"They're proud? Wait, is that allowed by the Ministry, though?" Wondered Jack. Lawrence nodded.

"Mum asked if she could tell the rest of our family. She was so giddy about sending a letter by owl! You should've seen her face!" He laughed. Jack smiled along. True. For muggles, wizarding ways were probably just as strange as theirs were to the wizardkind. Lawrence suddenly stopped, making Jack halt, too. "I'm riding with my mates." He told her, pointing to the compartment window. Jack could see Diggory talking to another Hufflepuff that she didn't know. "Want to sit with us?" Lawrence asked, a hopeful look on his face.

"That's alright." Jack told him. "I'll go find Fred and George." She said, waving to him.

"Happy holidays!" Lawrence yelled after her. She turned to give him a bright smile.

"You too!" The small witch didn't see him slap his forehead in annoyance when she left his sight.

"You wanker." He told himself. "'Happy holidays'? Really?" Lawrence shook his head and entered the compartment with a large smile.

**That's all folks!**

**As you can see, I've began using a British curse words and slang dictionary! If I use something incorrectly, please do tell me xD Unfortunately, English isn't my first language, and the time that I spent in an English-speaking country was in USA, CO :D**

**Also, I noticed that I miscalculated Charlie's year. He's actually a sixth year, while I made him a seventh. I'll go back and correct that during the holidays when I have more time :D**

**I wrote this chapter real fast xD I don't know why, but after the wonderful reviews, I simply needed to write some more! :D **

**That's all from me! Leave me your thoughts :D**

**Onto the reviews!**

**AthenaB: Thank you! That's such a compliment xD There are simply some stories that you need to keep reading xD I'm humbled that you felt that way about this one :D**

**I made Jack over the span of a couple of years when I was reading a lot of HP fanfiction, I tried to make her as unique as possible, and I'm very happy that you think that she isn't a mold-fitting OC xD**

**I was considering starting with Harry's first year, because I had wanted to make Jack younger, but then, I realized that she couldn't properly develop if I did that, so I chose to make her a bit older :) Simply, Dragon's name wouldn't be able to hold a candle to the name of Harry Potter, so she wouldn't get a chance to grow her own backbone, like she gets here. Also, I really wanted to explore my annoying and obnoxious twins headcanon xD**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**HenriaSownbinder: :D Heheheeeee~ :D :D :D :D :D So happy when I write my point across :D Heheheheheheeeee~ Happy dance moment over here :D Jack is a real softie and she doesn't even get it. She thinks that her biggest weakness is in class when she makes stuff go 'kaboom!' Naive little thing… **

**Yeah, I figured that Dragon would like to boast about his success :D Also, he was a bit of a mischievous prankster himself, he wants to leave a legacy :) I was grinning as I wrote it :D **

**The house thing was kind of a touched subject, but I'll get to it in the next chapter probably? No idea… **

**I'm glad that you were all happy and giddy :D I can't stop smiling when I get a review and do a happy dance as I read each one :D And then I keep re-reading them as I write the new chapter xD **

**You have kids? Lucky! My aunt just had her little one on the 1****st**** of December and it made me wish I had my own xD There's still time, though :P I can't provide for a kid while I'm a student :'(**

**Hopefully, this update was fast? :P**


	13. Chapter 13

**Welcome ladies and gents!**

**I really couldn't stop writing this chapter. It's full of descriptions, so I hope that they don't confuse you guys too much xD I will try and draw the stuff that I was talking about sometime soon, so that you can see my vision of it :D**

**I would like to give my thanks to and nathy13 for both alerts and favs! Also, I keep forgetting to thank all the people that added me to their fav or alert list as an author, thank you very much! That makes me blush and giggle uncontrollably :D**

**Also, thank you for the review HenriaSownbinder, you're awesome!**

**Enjoy! (this chapter is a bit longer than my other ones for some reason..)**

**The Beatles – Love Me Do (1962)**

The ride was surprisingly short for Jack. The time when she was going towards Hogwarts the first time, it had seemed like hours! But, going back for the holidays it was like they had barely gotten on before the trolley witch had gone by and then poof! Charlie was walking by, telling them to change into their casual clothes.

Jack had ended up sitting with Fred and George, who were surprisingly not in the same compartment with Alicia and Angelina. Instead, they were pestering someone named Wood. Oliver Wood, as he had introduced himself, was a third year Gryffindor, who loved Quidditch a bit too much in Jack's opinion. When she had knocked and asked to sit with them, he had jumped up and happily welcomed her in. And during the ride, he had tossed glances her way one too many times. Obviously, he was a Dragon fan.

Though, the third year didn't have time to ask her anything about her Pa. Fred and George were obviously on a mission to get the Quidditch nut to allow them to play, despite being first years. All in all, Jack agreed. Not allowing younger students to play was ridiculous. Sure, some of them sat on the broom for the first time in their Flying lesson, but others flew for years before that. It was unfair for some to not be allowed to try out for the team. Besides, Fred and George were really good flyers! She had seen them zooming around the field and annoying Madam Hooch. They also liked to tease Dmitry, because he got very sick as soon as he pushed off the ground.

Though, the twins got distracted when a boy named Towler (the one that Lee had been looking for a while back, remembered Jack) joined their compartment. He had made one excuse or the other about crazy girls (Jack had raised one sarcastic eyebrow) and then settled down. Then, the group had ended up playing Exploding Snap. Wood was grateful that the twins weren't pestering him anymore. Jack was happy that she was playing a game with friends. Towler looked a bit dazed, but he seemed rather joyful, until the cards exploded in his face. The twins were having a blast trying to get the cards to explode, rather than win the game.

At some point, Jack fell asleep, waking up to the sound of the train stopping. When she tried to get up, she noticed that she couldn't. Looking to the side she saw Fred and George on each side of her, dead asleep and leaning on her.

"Thank Merlin that they fell asleep, little monsters." Remarked Wood with a chuckle. He was gathering his things, preparing to leave. "Please wait until I'm gone to wake them up, alright?" He seemed a bit anxious.

Jack giggled and gave him a tiny nod. "They're not that bad I promise." The witch tried to explain. Wood shook his head and pulled his trunk out.

"If you say so." Then the third year headed out. "It was nice meeting you, Knight."

"You, too." Jack replied. Strange. She had expected him to ask all about her father as soon as he had had the opportunity. She scrunched up her nose. Maybe she had misjudged him? She needed to stop doing that. Her Pa always told her 'don't judge on what you see the first time'. But, she often ended up doing just that. She needed to try more and become better.

Smiling, Jack shook the twin to her left. Now that they were still, and sleeping, she could see slight differences between them. The way that they curled up against her was completely different. While one was clutching her arm, the other was completely relaxed. One slept with his mouth open, the other didn't. Jack couldn't stop herself from laughing. Oh, how she could prank him right now!

"Fred. George. Wake up." Jack shook them again. "We've arrived." The one to her left shifted, murmured something that sounded like 'just five more' and then hugged her even closer. Well, that was ridiculous. She knew that she was like a small furnace, her father always liked to sit right next to her on the couch because of that, but this was a bit too much. "Hey." Jack shook the other twin and he raised his head up, eyes drowsy and hair messy.

"Wha'?" The redhead asked, yawning in the end. Jack shook her head at him. They were like cats, really. They got overly excited, played all ride and then fell dead asleep.

"We've arrived." The small witch told him. "Please detach your brother? I like my arm." The twin laughed at her redheaded problem.

X

The King's Cross platform nine and three quarters was chaos. Children were rushing to their parents, pulling their trunks messily behind them. Owls were screeching, rats escaping and toads croaking. There were younger siblings, still not attending the school, running about and trying to get 'forgotten' on the Hogwarts Express.

Jack dragged her suitcase together with the twins. They had managed to wake up the other twin, who turned out to be Fred, who was now yawning and grumbling about nice sleep. He apparently liked that Jack was like a small furnace and wanted to keep her. He had actually asked George if they could 'keep her'. But the twin had denied, saying that their mother would disapprove of them bringing a stray pet home. Jack wasn't talking to them since that comment, much to their amusement.

"Do you see your folks?" Asked Jack, looking around, but not seeing Dragon. Knowing him, he was going to be late. Fred and George exchanged glances while she wasn't looking.

"No."

"Not really." Jack tossed them a dubious look over her shoulder once she saw their mother, bustling about. She remembered the fierce lady from Diagon Alley, when she had dragged the twins away by their ears. She was a rather short, plump woman, with ginger hair and a kind face. Her robes weren't made of expensive materials and they seemed to be corrected and patched many times. There was a stain near the bottom that told Jack that the woman worked in the garden a lot. The small witch smiled, immediately liking the woman.

"Fred! George! There you are!" The woman exclaimed, finally noticing the two troublemakers. Fred made a face. George tried to smile at his mother, but it looked more like a painful grimace.

"But Jack's father isn't here yet, mum." George whined. Yes, he whined.

"Can't we wait a bit longer?" Asked (whined) Fred from the other side. The woman now focused on Jack and the small girl took a step back. She liked the woman, but that didn't mean that she was comfortable around her.

"Please?" The twins chorused, each grabbing one of Jack's hands. The small witch stood there, dumbfounded and silent. They were going to wait with her?

"Oh, alright! But just for a bit longer!" The woman finally caved. "I'm Molly, dear, Molly Weasley. These two don't give you too much trouble I hope?" The woman finally introduced herself.

"This is Jack Knight, mum." George interrupted the small witch who gave him a glare.

"Dragon's daughter." Clarified Fred. Jack switched her not-so-evil-glare-of-death to him now.

"I can introduce myself!" Jack complained, poking their sides and making them jump away from her simultaneously. Jack saw the way Mrs Weasley gave her a smile at that action. Obviously, the twins were just as much of a menace at home as they were at school. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Weasley." The small witch said politely, extending her free hand. Mrs. Weasley grasped it in a short and firm handshake, surprise on her face.

"Likewise, dear." Said the ginger haired witch. "Now, your father is coming? Is he late?" Jack was about to answer, but Mrs. Weasley got distracted. "Charlie! There you are, dear! Why don't you take the twins' trunks? They're going to wait for their friend's father to arrive."

"Alright there, Jack?" Greeted Charlie causing her to blush and nod silently. The twins shared identical grins.

"I'm sorry, dear. I need to find Percy. Don't let these two drag you into too much trouble." And then Mrs. Weasley was gone. Jack looked up to Charlie who messed up her hair and put the twins' trunks on his trolley.

"I'll see you lot later. Have a great Christmas, Jack." With that, the redheaded sixth year also vanished into the crowd. Jack stood there, staring after him for a second. But, the twins wouldn't let that happen.

"Well, then." Said Fred.

"Shall we-" Took over George, as usual.

"put you-"

"somewhere-"

"where you can-" Jack kept looking right and left, like a Ping Pong match. She really needed to remember not to let them stand on each side of her. The more she hung out with them the more her neck was beginning to hurt.

"actually be seen?" They finished together. One of them grabbed her trunk and began pulling it towards the exit and away from the train. They saw some crates and dragged both her and her things towards them.

"Alright then." Exclaimed George.

"Up you go!" Said Fred and they pushed her up onto the wooden crates. Jack steadied herself, holding onto their shoulders. She really hoped that the owner of the crates wouldn't be back anytime soon. That would be one awkward conversation.

"This really isn't necessary. Pa has a way of finding me in a crowd that overcomes my vertically challenged stature." The twins exchanged glances. Obviously, they had been avoiding the subject of her shortness for some reason. Maybe they had thought that she was sensitive about it? Or that her mother suffered from dwarfism (as they knew who her father was)? Surprisingly, she had noticed that about the twins. They always messed around, sometimes even bordering the line of cruel and bullying. But, they had their own 'code' that they didn't break. That was one of the reasons why she actually chose to withstand their, often obnoxious, ways and be friends with them.

"Really?" Asked Fred.

"I thought he lost you in the crowd often?" Added George.

"Well-" Jack began.

"Midget!" A loud yell was heard, making a lot of people turn their heads. "Where's my midget?!" Another shout. Sure enough, there was Dragon, wearing his favorite scarlet robes, complete with the ridiculous muggle Santa hat on top of his head. Jack could feel a grin spreading on her face as she noticed the red-faced Captain Sherwood. He was looking at the ground and trying to melt into it and away from the curious looks that he was getting from the witches and wizards alike.

Jack jumped down from the crates, ignoring the twins' shout of surprise and raced towards her father. She could feel her throat closing up, like she couldn't breathe. Her eyes were suddenly stinging. Why? She didn't miss her Pa that much. She had only been at Hogwarts for a little while, too.

"Pa!" The small witch threw herself into her father's arms. Dragon picked her up easily and squeezed her.

"There's my favorite midget! Look at that!" He said, putting her back down. "She didn't grow one bit!" Jack laughed, her smile huge, punching his arm.

"I grew! Look!" And then she stood by him, on her tiptoes, looking at Sherwood. "Did I grow taller, Captain Sherwood?" The handsome Quidditch player nodded, a small smile on his face. He had always found his coach's little daughter to be quite adorable.

"She sure did, coach. You better watch out, or soon she'll be taller than you!" The youth played along, despite the fact that Jack was barely reaching her father's chest.

"Pa!" Jack grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the twins and her trunk. "Come meet my friends!"

X

"Those twins, they're troublemakers, aren't they?" Asked Dragon as they walked along the frozen dirt road. The small group had met the twins (who were unusually polite in Jack's opinion) and then found Mrs. Weasley, who was quite delighted to meet the both former and current Quidditch star (I don't fancy him, George!; He's not George, I am!). The twins had said their goodbye to Jack, both petting her short hair affectionately (they were quite surprised when she gave each of them a big hug), and promised to write during the break. It was strange how close Jack had gotten to them during her fight with Angelina.

"Yes. They helped me with the prank!" Jack exclaimed excitedly. "Did Pa tell you about it, Captain Sherwood?" She turned to the young man who was walking with them. They had apparited near the house that Dragon had purchased, but needed to walk for a bit, due to the protective charms around it (You're a bit paranoid, coach, aren't you?; More than a bit.; Hey, I'm not! Stop ganging up on me, you two!). They were behind Merlin's suspenders, really, walking in the middle of a snow-covered field.

"He did. He told the whole team about it." Laughed Sherwood. "Many times, in fact. I think that I can tell the story by heart now." Teased the Quidditch player.

"Sod off, Lucian." Remarked Dragon, struggling to pull Jack's trunk over the frozen bumps in the road. He got annoyed, though, as the luggage was stuck and took out his wand.

"Don't call me Lucian, coach." Frowned Captain Sherwood.

"Whatever you say, Lucian." Dragon pushed his luck, returning the wand into his robes after a series of quick spells. Jack could swear that her trunk had floated a little bit off the ground all the way home.

Home, yes. They turned left after a while and entered a beautiful, frozen forest. Jack looked around in wonder, taking in the snow covered, sparkling pine trees. They were positively breathtaking. They also smelled divine, and whenever the wind would blow, it sounded like someone was singing in the woods. Sherwood and Dragon shared an amused look as the young witch slowly began lagging, because she was trying to see everything.

Jack saw the road through the woods come to an end, and a frozen lake spread in front of them. "This way." Called Dragon, taking her to the right. Jack couldn't help the gasp that came out of her lips when she saw the house. No, not the house. Their home. Her home. She had a home! No more rented flats. No more used bedrooms. No more living out of the trunk. No more. She had a home!

With a whoop of joy, Jack ran forward, along the lake bank. She simply couldn't help it. The bubble of joy that she had in her chest was unexplainable. It rivaled even the one that she had had on her way to the infamous Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The lake came up to a snow covered bank, slightly slippery (as Jack almost fell over a few times, causing Captain Sherwood to catch her with his reflexes) slope that went all the way to the trees. Once you went a bit to the right from the small dirt road that led to the lake, you could see a house built on the rocky part of the shore. It had two levels and a long dock that went into the lake. There was even one part of the house that was built over the water itself.

Jack gaped at the house, her home, for a minute and then ran towards it once more. She needed to go up slightly, towards the forest, to climb all the way to the rock where the entrance was. As the house was basically on the rocks above the lake, you needed to take the slightly steep road towards the door. The house was in three colors, grey, of the stones that were on the outside, and green and red, which were on the roof and along the windows. The door was large and wide, in deep red oak, with natural lifelines of the tree.

Jack ginned when she saw the mistletoe hanging on the door. She kept jumping up and down impatiently. "C'mon, Pa! Open it!" Dragon shook his head at her childish antics and unlocked the house with one wave of his wand. Jack burst inside, ignoring the laughter of the two men behind her. She was instantly enveloped in the warm air of the room.

The interior didn't disappoint one bit. The house was all wooden from the inside, red oak, Jack noticed. The room that she entered was the living room and it was huge! There was a comfortable looking sofa and armchairs around the fireplace to her left and a long table to her right, also in red oak. She undid her shoes and immediately jumped onto the decorated rug. It was so soft that the little witch couldn't resist dropping down onto it. She laughed and rolled to her left, full in her winter clothes.

"At least take that wet cloak off, would you?" Remarked Dragon, his inner OCD (that he had passed down to Jack, too) awakening. "Like a little dog, isn't she?" Captain Sherwood shook his head, staying away from the topic. Dragon left the trunk in the shoes area, taking off his and stepping up the one wooden step that led into the living room. He grinned when he saw his little daughter getting up and dutifully taking off her cloak and mittens. She was an adorable little thing.

"Are you hungry?" The man asked, shedding his cloak and putting it on the hanger. He took Captain Sherwood's blue one and also placed it there. Jack tried to reach on her own to put it up, but couldn't.

"A little bit. Could you?" She asked and Dragon took out his wand and flicked it. One of the hooks lowered itself to proper height for his daughter. Jack smiled and put her cloak there happily.

"Incendio!" Captain Sherwood chanted at the fireplace, causing it to burst into larger flames. He walked over and placed some more logs onto the, now happily crackling, fire. "Should I make something, then, coach? When are the rest of them coming?" The man asked.

Dragon seemed to think for a moment. "Let's prepare something light? The rest of them will be here in the late afternoon. Charlotte had to run some errands for her sister." Sherwood nodded. Jack was already looking around, though, trying to take everything in.

Now that she looked a bit better, there was a kitchen with a long counter to the right of the door, beyond the long table. There was a stove and many cupboards. Also, a muggle invention called the refrigerator. Obviously, her father was keeping to his ways. She smiled when she saw that you could exit onto a wooden porch from the kitchen. No doubt, it was the part of the house that was over the lake. She could barely wait for summer to come!

But, she couldn't see the bedrooms yet. She looked to see Dragon and Captain Sherwood in a deep conversation about Quidditch (or so she thought). Jack decided to explore. She headed towards the wooden staircase that she had seen earlier. It went from the fireplace all the way up to the next level of the house. The steps were nicely polished, wooden, and large enough for her to sit on. Once she arrived to the top, she noticed the divided space. There was a hallway, it's floor also done in soft carpet, leading away from the lake. On the end of it was a large window. She looked left and right, deciding to explore all the rooms.

There were five. Once you entered them, you could actually see that the house was new. The first to her right was definitely her father's, having a large bed with red and black sheets and various posters and Quidditch formation maps thrown around. Her father hadn't completed the wall, as it was still partially painted. He hadn't unpacked his boxes and trunk either. Jack saw the door leading further from her father's room, and carefully stepped over the mess on the floor to peer in. It was a simple bathroom, with a shower. Her Pa had never been one for baths, after all. With a grin, Jack continued on.

The first room to the left was empty. She looked around, noticing the identical window as in her father's room that overlooked the lake and smiling. The wall wasn't painted yet and there was no desk or bed. She headed towards the door that led further from that room and found another bathroom, a bit bigger than her father's. She saw the tub and smiled. She might've found her room! Then, she noticed the second door leading from that bathroom and headed that way. It led into another room. It was also empty, like the one before, but it had no windows, which was a pity. She would need to tell her Pa to remodel that somehow. Every room needed a window, after all!

The small witch left through that room and headed to the last one on the left side. It was the smallest of all that she had entered, with pure white walls and shelves all around. There was a table in the middle with a hole in the center that sported a glass bowl of sorts on decorative metal bars that winded together in a complicated pattern. Jack stared at them for a while, before shrugging and leaving the room. It wasn't interesting. Besides, sometimes she didn't want to know why Dragon had some things.

Then, Jack exited into the hallway once more. She opened the last door and entered. The room was simple, one bed and one desk, some shelves along the wall. There was a window from which you could see the entrance to the house and some of the woods. She decided that she didn't really like the view and scrunched up her nose. This room also had a bathroom with a small shower.

True, she wanted her own room, and her own shower, preferably with a tub, but she didn't want to share it! While the last room wasn't a share-bathroom one, maybe it was better? But there was no tub, and Jack didn't like the view out of the window. Maybe she could choose that one with the shared bathroom, but close the access from that no-window room? No, that would be bad. A room without windows or a bathroom. Terrible.

Jack exited into the hallway once more, a look of concentration on her face. She didn't know what to do. The small witch, nose scrunched up, walked towards the large window and looked out. She was directly above the entrance, looking at the steps. No matter, Jack thought. She had a home now. There was no 'perfect place' anywhere. She had simply been fantasizing.

After letting a small sigh of disappointment, Jack shook her head. No, she wouldn't be sad! She refused to be sad! This was her home now. She finally had a home to come back to. Her father was a great parent, but he was a free spirit. Despite the burden of a young child, he had kept travelling, living here and there, renting flats, crashing at his friends' or staying in hotels. Sure, since they had money, that was never a problem.

And, Dragon loved Quidditch. When he wasn't at the pitch, he was at another pitch, looking at other teams and their matches. This meant that the Knight family was constantly following the Ballycastle team. Great Britain, France, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Yugoslavia, Israel, Greece, America, Japan, Kazakhstan, Egypt etc. Jack had been there. She had visited those countries, some for a mere week and some for a couple of months. Some barely for a day. Simply, she had been a traveler, a wanderer, never stopping. And, she had loved it. She had never resented Dragon for his passion. In fact, she had admired him for it. He lived what he loved. She wished to be like her father when she grew up, too. Working with dragons. Living her dream.

But, Jack had always longed for a home, for a place to settle down. She had loved her wandering lifestyle, but she had also longed for security. Now, after starting school, she had some. But, in the end, her rather selfish challenge to her father had led to something like this. Something so perfect. She loved this house. She loved her father. She loved Hogwarts. She loved her life.

"What do you think?" Asked Dragon. Jack whirled around to see him standing just behind her. She hadn't heard him arrive. He had a small smile on his face, but his eyes were vulnerable, uncertain.

Jack smiled. "I love it." She replied.

"Of course, there's still work to be done. I picked my room, the closest to downstairs, so that I can go back and forth. I still haven't unpacked, though. I was waiting for you to-" And he kept going. Jack smiled, watching her father ramble on and on about something completely irrelevant, his arms waving around in the air, gesturing. She had missed this. "What's with that face?" Asked Dragon suddenly, stopping his nervous rant. He was rather anxious about the house, as he had picked it with Lucian (who had been rather adamant about getting this one).

"I love you." Jack told him and gave him a hug. Dragon smiled, arms reaching around her to squeeze the small girl. That's what was wrong with her! He had missed his little caretaker while she was at Hogwarts. His days had been empty, no matter how many trainings, practices and matches he attended. Even if he went to parties or pubs with the team or his friends, no amount of Firewhisky had been enough to dull the emptiness. His days had been tedious and laughter-less. To think that he had become so dependent on one small creature in merely eleven years.

"I'm so lucky, my little midget." He told her, swaying them from side to side. Jack wasn't sniffling anymore, though, she had begun to giggle. He picked her up easily then, causing her to squeal in laughter.

"Pa!" She laughed. "That's a ridiculous sentence! It's embarrassing!" Dragon laughed his booming laugh which rang through the house. He bent forward and kissed his daughter's nose.

"Good! Then I'm doing my job as a father right!" He chuckled. "I'm properly embarrassing you!" Jack struggled and wriggled out of his arms as he kept laughing.

"Let's go downstairs, Pa? We should help Captain Sherwood." Jack dutifully called out to her father. He gave her an amused look.

"Sure, midget." He decided to go along. "Wait, have you seen your room?" Dragon stopped suddenly. Jack scrunched up her nose, confused.

"Shouldn't I simply pick one of these?" She asked causing her father to laugh. He shook his head.

"If you want one of those, you can have it. But, I have something better." He told her, childish excitement in his eyes. "You know how I always take over the basement for my stuff, right?" He walked towards the window at the end of the hallway with no signs of stopping. Jack nodded. He always did like his 'man cave' for Quidditch re-watching, trophy collecting and occasional potion brewing. It was one place that Jack always gave him (and never attempted cleaning) during their stay in a rented house somewhere. "Well, I decided to give you something like that, too." He told her with a grin and moved the small wall tapestry to the side.

It revealed wooden stairs, much like the one below, but smaller, leading further up. Jack grinned, excitement bubbling in her stomach once more.

**All for now folks!**

**Onto the review!**

**HenriaSownbinder: What can I say? I like to surprise :D Here's another quick one :P Hahaha you should do some motivational speaking XD I love reading reviews :) They make my days! :D **

**Awwww! Kids are precious :D But, they are certainly a handful :P I mostly have younger cousins and a brother and sister from my father's side, so I remember how insane it used to be, and back then I was a kid, too xD **

**Oh, Jack's completely oblivious to that part. Simply, she divides people into 'friend' or 'love interest' I believe that she is the epitome of friendzone xD For her, it's unthinkable that the two categories could overlap, at least for now. Lawrence is going down a bumpy road of puppy love xD I couldn't resist it! Jack is, too, though. I don't know if she's going to be a late bloomer.. She's rather mature for her age, so I suppose she might be a bit indifferent to the whole drama thing? Who knows…**

**I'm getting there, I'm dropping breadcrumbs all over the fic :P I think that Fred was a red light, though ahahhaha I knew that you guys were going to notice that one :D**

**I hope you enjoyed! :D**


	14. Chapter 14

**Welcome ladies and gents!**

**Let me give my thanks to (and repeat the ones whose names didn't print out well last time):**

**Carla biologicaUM, kisstherainandthesun and WeasleyTravelingWithATimelord for the alerts!**

**Carla biologicaUM, arianaamestoy19121996, kisstherainandthesun, WeasleyTravelingWithATimelord and sage1992 for the favs!**

**And, of course, HenriaSownbinder and AthenaB for the wonderful reviews!**

**I never expected this story to take off so well xD**

**Enjoy!**

**The Beatles – Let it be (1970)**

Jack gaped. There was no other word for it. She gaped. "All of this?" The girl managed to squeak out.

"Mhm." Nodded Dragon behind her. She kept gaping, soundlessly. At the top of the narrow and circular stairs (which were a bit of a pain to climb) was the attic. And no, it wasn't one of those stereotypical covered in cobwebs and old things attic. It was a new, freshly made and cleaned attic. The floorboards were made out of red oak, as all the other things in the house were, and they were clean and shining. There was no carpet, like in the other rooms. Jack nodded that fact immediately and wasn't sure if she liked it or not.

The space spread all the way, with no wall separating it. Simply, it was like when you added the living room and the kitchen together. The room was larger than large in her eyes. There were six strong columns, holding the ceiling up, also wooden. As you went towards the lakeside of the house, the roof tilted, so the ceiling got lower and lower. When she stood near the wall, she still couldn't touch it, though. It was about Dragon's height there. Jack noticed that it had no windows that overlooked the lake and noted that she had to change that. There was one large window on the other side, looking at the entrance and three roof windows (two round one circular in the middle), which showed the skies. She couldn't see the bathroom anywhere, but then again, the space was completely empty.

"What do you think?" Asked Dragon, who was watching her explore with amusement. "A bed here." He pointed towards his right. "A wall and a bathroom over there. Maybe a desk near this window?" He was walking around now, imagining her room. Jack giggled as she watched his struggle to think what else a girl would need in her room (not to mention the way he waved his hands around as he spoke). "A big wardrobe, right? Then, maybe a make-up table with a mirror? Right, you probably want a full-body mirror, silly me. So that you can see the whole outfit." Jack walked over and gave him another hug.

"It's perfect." She told her worried parent. She hadn't come with a 'How to use' book and she understood that. Her father often got quite adorably frustrated trying to figure out her 'lady mind', as he liked to call it.

"You're too good to me, you know." He murmured, holding the girl close. Jack looked up and gave him a cheeky smile. "Let's go downstairs before Lucian burns the kitchen down, shall we?" The small witch giggled and accepted his hand.

Captain Sherwood was standing in the kitchen, his wand out and waving. He was murmuring something that suspiciously sounded like 'silly coach' and 'muggle things'. Jack laughed when she saw him. He gave her a cheeky grin right back, but didn't retort. Dragon went to help right away, catching the flying meat and turning to the sink to prepare it. Jack struggled for a second to climb onto the counter in between the living room and the kitchen but managed. She suspected that a quick movement of Captain Sherwood's wand in her direction had had something to do with her sudden boost.

Captain Sherwood had been a constant in her life for the last couple of years. The man was in his late twenties, as Dragon liked to joke, fresh out of Hogwarts (even though he had graduated over six years ago). He had become a Quidditch first line Chaser in record time (during his first couple of months of playing for the Bats). And, he had taken over as Captain around five years ago, on the recommendation of her Pa. The team had been sceptic at first, having some members that were way older than the Captain, and much more experienced, but they soon noticed what Dragon had. Captain Sherwood was a spirited man, someone who believed with his full heart in the cause. He lived the game with his whole being, always thinking of ways to make every member better. He had more motivation than the whole team put together, and he knew Quidditch Through the Ages by heart, often citing it when needed.

He was handsome in Jack's opinion, a person that one would wish to marry and live with (plus, he could cook! Unlike her father, who only attempted to). Captain Sherwood was around her father's height, lanky and muscled. He had straight, pale blonde, hair that he mostly kept short. He had high cheekbones, which was attractive in Jack's opinion and his eyes were a deep green. He carried himself properly, almost never slouching, and often wore muggle clothing, the kind that the newer generations wore, the rock kind. All in all, Captain Sherwood was cool.

Jack had heard about him being an orphan, since his mother had died while he was in his lower years of Hogwarts. The man had graduated and then struggled for a bit to make a name for himself. Though, Dragon had found him, and his talent for Quidditch during one of the Hogwarts games, and then recognized him in a pub. Since then, Captain Sherwood had practically become a part of their family, often traveling with them or staying at the same hotels (as he, too, was a wanderer or sorts). He had his mother's home in Scotland, but never went there for some reason. Her Pa always told her that some places hold too many painful memories to return there, so she never asked.

"Midget!" Dragon yelled finally, managing to get her attention. Jack jumped up, looking at him.

"Yes?" She asked, dazed. She had been thinking about the first time that she had met Captain Sherwood, back when he hadn't been a Captain at all. He had come, in dirty robes and completely wet from rain, with her father, who had also been soaked, but smiling wide to their hotel room door. She could still remember the sad and embarrassed look on Captain's face as she had forced him to take off his wet clothes and then proceeded to dry his hair and talk to him, almost like she was the adult and he the small child. She remembered how her father had goofed off during the whole night, just to get the youth to laugh. Since then, Captain Sherwood had become family.

"Cucumbers, do you want some?" Dragon asked, pointing to Captain Sherwood who was peeling them. The blonde gave her a crooked smile, and tossed her a washed and peeled one. Jack swiftly caught it.

"Thanks."

"With that catch, I better watch out." Laughed Sherwood. "You might replace me soon!" Dragon laughed boomingly at this.

"Sorry to disappoint, Lucian, but her brain is full of dragon poop. She won't be playing Quidditch professionally anytime soon." He told the Captain, causing him to glare right back at the use of his name. For some reason, he was really sensitive about being called Lucian. He preferred Luke or Sherwood, Captain, even, anything but Lucian.

"Dragon dung?" He asked, turning to the small witch. "You're still into dragons?" He asked, bewildered. Jack nodded enthusiastically. "I remember having that phase. Dragons and vampires, that was mine." He commented, going back to cutting the salad with his wand. "It passed in my first year at school, though. All of my dragon models were replaced by broom models." He chuckled.

"Have you seen Pa's collection?" Asked Jack rhetorically, causing the Captain to laugh again.

"True! For you it's probably the opposite." He wondered, now pulling out bowl and mixing different ingredients into them. "Then again, your father's nickname is Dragon." The blonde pointed out.

"And don't you forget that!" Remarked Dragon before he showed off by simply blowing onto the butane burner to turn it on. Captain Sherwood and Jack exchanged the same, eye-rolling look.

X

That evening was eventful. After they ate the light meal, they kept preparing food as the whole Ballycastle Bats team would be arriving soon. Jack went to her trunk at some point and struggled to carry it all the way up to the attic. Captain Sherwood had quickly arrived to help her, using his wand, as usual, to make it feather-light. Jack had unpacked the potion ingredients as soon as the man had left, putting them in the far right corner of the room and making sure that they were out of the moonlight. There was still time before the new moon, but she needed to pay attention to the lunar calendar and be ready.

Jack heard a commotion downstairs and hurried to get down. The Quidditch team was a fun group. They always had interesting stories and they always played with her. Last year, they had even allowed her a sip of Firewhisky during the celebration.

"There she is!" Jack heard as soon as she thundered down the stairs in only her socks. She saw Finbar Quigley, the infamous Beater of the Ballycastle Bats, brushing soot off his purple robes straight onto their new carpet (Dragon took out his wand right away, vanishing the mess). He spread his arms to give her a hug. "Look at our little prankster, Summerbee!"

"Uncle Fin!" Jack jumped onto the Beater who easily picked her up and spun her around. Finbar Quigley was definitely one of the team fools. He cracked the most awkward and inappropriate jokes during dinner, making Dragon laugh and Captain Sherwood scold him about Jack's age. He was a middle-aged man, in his thirties, well-built and broad shouldered. His hair was dark, as were his eyes, and it was always kept messy and medium sized. He liked to boast about it being the lady magnet (even though everyone teased him about not getting a lot of women).

"Sure she is, Quigley." Replied Emmett Summerbee, the other Beater, who had exited the fireplace right behind Quigley. He was the sarcasm of the team, the one to always put a lid on Quigley's insanity. They were a perfect pair, knowing each other's strengths and weaknesses. Summerbee was a tall and lanky man, unlike Quigley, taller than both Dragon and Captain Sherwood. He had a long nose, broken one too many times, and he liked to keep his hair a bit longer, often putting it in a ponytail at the nape of his neck. It was light brown, just like his eyes, which were warm and kind, always laughing, despite the sarcasm coming out of his mouth. "She's almost ready to follow in her father's footsteps."

"Mr. Emmett, sir!" Jack wriggled out of Quigley's embrace and ran to the other Beater to give him a greeting, too. Somehow, she was always formal to the tall man. He demanded respect, with his long frame and proper dress. She had sometimes seen Captain Sherwood relaxed, or even slouched (while watching a game with a bottle of Firewhisky) but she had never, ever seen Summerbee off guard. He was always sitting straight as a plank.

"Hello, Jaqueline." He greeted back, patting her head as she stood in front of him with a smile, holding her hands behind her back. "How was your first term at Hogwarts?" He asked gently, his eyes smiling, despite the fact that his face wasn't.

"It was great!" Jack replied. "I made so many friends, Mr. Emmett!" And then Jack launched into her story about Fred and George and about Lee, the Liondragon, and about Alicia, the Welsh Green, even about Angelina, the Hebridean Black. About Lawrence, too, whom she had identified as a Swedish Short-Snout only recently. Jack had even talked about her friends from different houses and Elyse Foxall, Kenneth Towler and Oliver Wood, whom she didn't know all that well. What she really loved about Summerbee was the fact that he listened. He always had time for her stories, no matter how silly they were. So, the two settled down into the comfortable armchairs next to the fireplace and talked while the 'adults' discussed Quidditch. Quigley had listened for a while, but gotten bored quite fast.

Mere minutes seemed to pass before the fire changed color once more, three Quidditch stars exiting it. The first to come was a rather short woman in her early thirties. Her red hair was in perfect ringlets around her face, her blue eyes looking about right away. She was wearing simple muggle clothing, jeans and a turquoise jumper (which accented her eyes nicely) and had a huge smile on her face. That was Charlotte King, the Ballycastle Bats Keeper. Wicked fast and deceptively strong.

"Where's the party?" She commented, brushing the soot off her shoulders (and awakening Dragon's OCD once more). "I was told that this is a welcome home party for a certain midget."

"Coming from you, that comment is positively ridiculous." Answered Summerbee, but got up to greet the woman. He comically towered over her.

The second person to exit was a man of straight black hair and a short goatee. He was taller than Charlotte, but shorter than Dragon and Captain Sherwood. He was of stocky build, and looked like he had been partying before arriving to the Knights' house (despite the fact that it was around five in the afternoon). That was Ezekiel O'Deluga, a Chaser for the Bats, more commonly known as Lucky Zeke. If anything, he was the exact opposite of his Bible-originated name. He partied a bit too much for Dragon's liking, which was saying something, and he had a certain passion for philosophy and art.

"Where'd your monster hair go, girlie?" Lucky Zeke remarked as soon as he saw Jack, who was just splitting up from her hug with Charlotte. The small witch giggled and ran up to him for a hug, too.

"On a trip!" She replied.

"Shhhh! Here you go." Lucky Zeke carefully slipped a box of chocolate frogs into her arms during their hug, making sure to hide them from Dragon. "Don't let coach eat them again." The Chaser winked causing her to laugh.

"Thank you very much!"

The last person to exit the fireplace was a woman, taller than Charlotte, but shorter than Dragon. She had long black hair that seemed to shimmer as she mover and her eyes were dark, but alert. She was wearing a dress, actually, she was the only one wearing something classy. It was a short (very short), red, and completely form fitting. Jack caught herself staring at the woman's chest unconsciously (like more of the men in the room). That must be the new Chaser, Zita Webley, Jack figured.

"Zita!" Exclaimed Dragon, walking forward. The woman smiled and Jack stepped back instantly. Good Chaser or not, she didn't like this woman. "Welcome!" Her Pa walked over, helping the woman to a chair. She had incredibly high heels. Jack wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"I know what you mean, gurl." Whispered to her Charlotte in a fake, and rather obnoxious, American accent. Jack managed to turn her giggle into a cough. Charlotte didn't even attempt to hide her dislike for the new Chaser.

Though, conversation continued. Jack was briefly introduced to the, recently dubbed, Thunderbird. The woman had given her a smile and patted her head, but it had been somehow cold. Her eyes had been cold. Then, the group opened some quite old muggle wine and began toasting as they waited for the last couple of players. Jack found herself in the kitchen on one of the tall barstools. She was leaning against the counter and reading the Daily Prophet holiday sales section. Captain Sherwood and Charlotte (Call me Lottie, little Dragon.) were there, too, finishing the food. She was trying to figure out what to get for whom. She had seen an adorable dress that Alicia would love, and it would go together with her favorite shoes quite well.

For Angelina, yes, she was getting Angelina a present for Christmas, they were friends, even thought they were fighting, Jack had found the perfume that she had heard the girls talking about many times. Apparently, The Golden Veela was the most desired fragrance on the market. Jack had to admit, the bottle was pretty, as it was shaped like the beings themselves, but in honey-colored glass, with golden sparkles all over.

She had also considered Lee's present. That one had been easy. Very easy. Two books. The first Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander and Spiders: Love Them or Hate Them, There is No Middle by Benjiman T. Olaughlin. That should satisfy Lee's taste for horrifying and dangerous. Jack knew, because she had read Fantastic Beasts one too many times herself.

She was still searching for the perfect presents for Lawrence, Charlie, Fred and George. She really had no idea what to get them. She had also gotten sweets for all of her friends, including Mary, the shy Gryffindor, and Diggory, Lawrence's Hufflepuff friend that she sometimes ended up hanging out with. She was also planning to send letters and sweets to Elyse Foxall (a rather fickle, but helpful Ravenclaw), Dorothea Bennett (a short, kind and knowledgeable Ravenclaw), Ronan O'Sullivan (an older boy from Gryffindor that she often shared a desk with in Study Hall or library), Casper and Geo Thorebourne (two brothers from Hufflepuff that she had ended up meeting and becoming friendly with) and Maura McCarthy (a girl from Slytherin that she sometimes talked to in Flying Lessons). That covered all of the people that she hung out with at Hogwarts and left her with the dilemma of what to get for the Ballycastle team? Surely, they would all get her things, mostly snacks or school things, but she needed to be creative.

"Jack." The girl looked up from the newspaper, seeing Quigley leaning against the counter with a funny face. She immediately smiled. "What's with the serious face, little Dragon? What's that list?" He tried to read her list of 'To send and To buy' upside-down. But, Jack was too quick and folded it, stuffing it into the pocket of her muggle dress. He pouted childishly.

"Don't be like that, Uncle Fin. I can't tell you everything." The small witch smiled. He shrugged, quickly recovering.

"Will you show me your room?" He asked. Charlotte heard him.

"I want to see, too!" And then, most of them were headed upwards, curious about the rest of the new house. There was teasing about the coach's room and asking if they could come and stay in the extra rooms (No way! You have your own houses!; Don't listen to Pa, you're always welcome to come and stay with us.). Then, the group climbed all the way to the attic and Jack received much advice about how to decorate, what to build where and which window to close and to open a slide straight into the lake. All in all, she took them with as much politeness as possible, as she had already planned everything out.

"Anyone home?!" Sounded someone from below and Dragon turned quickly.

"That's the rest of them!" He exclaimed excitedly and hurried down the stairs, leaving Webley on her own to stagger down the steps. Charlotte and Jack shared a look of amusement as Quigley attempted to help her, but she brushed him off.

Two more people had come. A woman with head full of long, dark brown braids, donning a deep green robe with golden designs. She had chocolate, almond shaped eyes and dark skin. Not black, not white, but in between. Her features were also half-half, making her rather stunning. That was Sindiswa Mullet, the substitute Chaser for the Bats, more commonly known as Sindy. Unfortunately, she had to be second-lined due to injury this season.

The second person that was brushing off the soot from his shoulders was a thin man of short stature, whose yellow robes looked both too big and too bright for him. He was pale, with messy, dark, curly hair that fell into his eyes and quite dorky glasses on his face. He grinned, waving at them as they descended the stairs. Mortimer Mills, the hidden weapon of the Bats and their Seeker, more commonly known as The Dork.

"Hey, coach!" Mills greeted. "Where is- whoa!" He tripped on thin air and fell over one of the soft armchairs with a loud thud. Sindy caught the bag that was on its way to the floor swiftly, already used to their Seeker's clumsiness. Most of the team laughed and then, Jack's 'Welcome home and Good luck at Hogwarts' party began. And boy, it was a good party.

X

"A wall there." Jack told her father, showing him with her finger. He waved his wand, making the red oak turn into cement and extend upwards. "A little to the left, please. Right there!" The wall had swam through the oak planks, creating ripples in it before it found its proper place and rose. "Alright, now, can you make it with tiles on the inside, like that." She smiled at her Pa brightly when he practically read her mind, creating white and red tiles. "And a t- thanks." She stopped the sentence as soon as her perfect claw foot tub appeared, golden pipes extending above it to provide water. A golden sink also melted out of the wall, along with a mirror above it. A small red oak cupboard formed beneath it and Jack's bathroom was practically done. She grinned.

"Perfect?" Dragon asked with a cheeky smile.

"Absolutely." He gave her a one armed hug as they looked at the new bathroom from the doorway. There was a small window on the opposite wall, the tub in the middle of the room. There were hangers around and shelves, ready to receive all her beauty products (which she seriously lacked). She turned exiting the room. It was time to furnish the main part.

Needless to say, it had been quite a job to convince Dragon that he should furnish her room with magic. But, when they were done, Jack was proud to say that she had a room. A perfect room. Her bed was round and white with fluffy pillows and warm blankets. She even had a baldachin above it. There was a large wardrobe in red oak on the side of the house that faced the forest and a medium sized desk and a chair next to it. Most of the free wall was covered in different shelves, or left free for posters of dragons. Jack had insisted that her Pa make a window seat that overlooked the lake (full blown with comfortable pillows and everything). Now, her room was perfect (and still a sandbox that she could accustom to her needs).

"Ready for bed?" Asked Dragon, entering her room once more, as he had left her to get settled in. Jack had unpacked and gotten ready for bed. Her hair was mostly dry, and room was warm from the fireplace two floors down. She could smell her favorite raspberry shampoo and the clean smell of her white nightgown.

"Yes." She told her father, jumping onto the soft bed. Crawling all the way to the pillow, Jack shimmied under her covers. With a grin, she waited for her father to come closer. He bent over to kiss her forehead, like he always did, but she was too fast. Jack grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him onto the bed.

"Midget!" Dragon complained, laughing. The girl wouldn't give up, though. She messed up his longish hair and jumped onto him.

"I got you!" The girl screamed childishly, tickling her father. He laughed, trying to escape, but she followed him around the bed tirelessly.

"I give up! I give!" He finally yelled. Jack sat back, giggling. Dragon raised his head, brushing his bangs back. "You've become a menace, you know, my favorite midget?" He laughed almost nostalgically. "I never should've sent you to get corrupted by those wild brats at Hogwarts, right?" Jack laughed and he joined in.

"You'd know just how wild they are!" She teased him back.

"You're right." He told her with a smile. "As usual." They sat for a moment, just looking at each other. "Come here." Dragon opened his arms, hugging his little daughter when she crawled over. He had realized over the years, that there were many things that he regretted. Being rude to his parents. Making so much trouble at Hogwarts. Flirting with Minerva McGonagall in class. Dating a bit too much. Not studying nearly enough. Starting his career a bit rocky. Falling off his broom so easily. Getting hit by a Bludger one too many times. Having the accident that had finished his professional career. Traveling too much. Living in hotels a lot. Not being home with his daughter a lot. Not providing her with a stable family. Not getting married. There were so many things that he regretted. And, there was one that he never did. Allowing this little creature to absolutely wrap him around her finger.

"Goodnight, my favorite midget." He told Jack, kissing her forehead once she was settled down in her bed.

"'Night." She yawned back, closing her eyes. Dragon smiled at the doorway once more, before heading down with a small whisper.

"Nox."

**That's all folks!**

**Now, I promise to be short:**

**I was actually planning to fit all of this family stuff in one chapter, but it got complicated. I hope that you understand Dragon a bit more now, and that you don't hate him for being rather irresponsible with writing letters to his daughter xD**

**I don't own the name Finbar Quigley and the surname Mullet, those were taken from the Harry Potter Wikia, however, the characters, along with their personalities and physical appearance are all me. The rest of the OCs, there a quite a few new names here, sorry, I tried to keep them as different as possible xD, are mine.**

**Do tell me your thoughts! :D **

**My dear reviews!**

**Henria Sownbinder: I was smiling the whole time while writing that :D I had some trouble imagining what a cool house could look like, but once it took off, it took off xD**

**Kudos to you for the military! I suppose that I'm the cool rocker older sister type so the younger ones like me xD And, I tend to bring chocolate when I come :P **

**Hmmmm Fred is going to have a blast cracking this one… I mean, that's how she is for now, she's learning… sloooowly xD Also, input overprotective Dragon here. He isn't going to be too happy about Jack having a boyfriend of any sort :P I agree, I thought up Jack and I personally don't have all the answers… It depends on the other characters, too xD Now we get to see a bit of her background here, I suppose a filler :( , and we realize why she 'moms' people… **

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**AthenaB: Oh, thank Calypso that I didn't bore too much with the house xD When I actually imagined it, I couldn't stop describing it… I still have an urge to draw the thing xD I wrote the end of this chapter after reading your review :) I hope it makes you smile :P I was raised by a single mother actually, so I get what you mean :D **

**She's an odd one in that aspect. I mean, I remember being eleven and being all about 'who likes who' and all that. I mean, there weren't serious relationships or anything, but there was puppy love. Jack is simply a bit behind in that sense, as this is the first school that she has gone to.. I think that she's oblivious because she tries to figure everything out by using movies and books as reference. That's why she epically friendzones people xD **

**I have no idea how I'm updating… sometimes I write like a crazy person, and sometimes I sit and stare at the blank page xD Hope you enjoyed!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Welcome ladies and gents!**

**I know that I have been updating every day for a while, but that's unfortunately quite impossible to keep up :( So, as I did say in the beginning, irregular updates :P**

**Let me give my thanks! Misssmartt, sage1992, Alwayswillow and black-witch lover for the favs!**

**And misssmartt , vehDots13, Alwayswillow, black-witch lover, Ara le Yama Raja, hannahlouise1994 and yuki0123 for the alerts!**

**And, thank you so much HenriaSownbinder, Maiannaise, hannahlouise1994 and TheStrange for the reviews!**

**Enjoy!**

**Eurythmics – Here comes the rain again (1984)**

The wind was most definitely ice-cold and blowing into her eyes with unimaginable force. However, that didn't bother her one bit. Somehow, it was like she had the warmest coat on, or a very strong Warming Charm that wasn't wearing off no matter how much time passed. Her eyes were protected, too. She knew that she wasn't wearing Quidditch goggles, but it sure felt like she was. The snow and ice that whipped against her was nothing as she headed on her way. She could feel her arms hurting slightly the farther she went. Obviously, she had overused them. She had overestimated her own abilities. The ice had caught on the underside of her coat, where it was vulnerable and open and it was weighting her down and slowing her down.

That didn't matter, though.

She needed to get there. She was being called to a place and she needed to go there. There was no debate. She would get there, no matter the strength of the storm. Nothing could stop her. With another furious bat of her arms, she threw herself further up, managing to avoid a particularly nasty air current wave. Something hit her belly then, making her look about furiously. There was ice flying around in the furious storm. Obviously, it had broken off one of the cliffs that she had been passing. Nasty bits of obstacles. She would need to be careful.

Another gust of wind whipped against her, sending her to the right and almost into the cliff side. However, she managed to change direction in the last second, only scraping the length of her side against it, instead of hitting it headfirst. With even more determination to answer the commanding call that was pulling her, she headed towards the whirlwind that shined brightly with the sun, showing the end of the storm rose and the exit of the traitorous mountains.

Then, a dull pain in her right arm shot through her, sending her spiraling downwards.

Jack jumped up in her bed, screaming at the thought of hitting the bottom of the icy ravine. She panted for a second, the fact that she had been simply dreaming slowly sinking into her mind. She grabbed her right elbow, the one that was still pulsing with the dull pain. Then, she shivered and pushed the covers off. It was too cold in the room. The small witch put her feet on the ground, flinching when the cold wooden planks touched her warm feet. She had always had good body temperature. Warm in the winter, yet cool in summer.

Grabbing a jumper from her new closet (a beige cashmere one), the girl headed downstairs. As soon as she got to the carpet her feet warmed up. However, the steps to the living room were cold and wooden once more. Shivering and wrapping her jumper tighter around her, the girl hurried towards the fireplace. She struggled to toss two logs in and then lights a match to some paper and set the wood on fire. She settled in front of it, holding her hands out and waiting to get warmed up.

Dragon had left for work early, as usual. He had left her to sleep in this time, though, which was like a present in itself. Even though Jack woke up early, she liked to sleep in. It made her feel like a princess. And we all know that every girl secretly wants to be a princess. Her bed had been heavenly. Her sleep had rivaled the comfort of Hogwarts.

But, the dream was still in her mind. She had dreamt of flying. This wasn't a frequent occurrence. No, she dreamt of the most bizarre things, but never so realistically. This dream had been so real. She could still taste the icy wind and the cold snow on her tongue. She could still smell the pure scent of snow, the one that bit onto the insides of your nose mercilessly. And she could still feel the dull pain in her limbs where she had hit the cliff side or been hit by a piece of ice.

Jack rubbed her elbow absent-mindedly, the one that had sent her spiraling down. It didn't hurt, but it itched. Like she had hurt it, but hadn't. It was a strange, unexplainable feeling. The small witch shook her head and pushed herself up. The house was warmer already. Thankfully, Dragon had left her matches and paper to light it. He had remembered that she couldn't use magic outside of school. Then again, he was usually against using magic for the everyday stuff.

Chucking at the words that her Pa often repeated, 'You won't be an invalid in the muggle-world of my watch!', Jack opened the various cupboards and the fridge, looking for something to eat. There were leftovers from the dinner last night, various salads, beans, meat and soup. She took some butter and the honey that was all the way in the back, though. Putting some tea on, Jack settled on one of the barstools in the kitchen and ate on the tiled counter. It was much easier to clean than the large table in the living room. She took out the yesterday's Daily Prophet as she ate, going over the latest offers for the presents that she had chosen.

Maybe an hour or two passed and the house was toasty again, causing Jack to drop her jumper and switch to the sofa with her newspaper and half-finished tea. Tap. Tap. Tap. She looked around, hearing the rhythmic noise. Tap. Tap. Tap. It rang again and Jack jumped up. Fear bubbled in her stomach as silence rang through the room. The kind of deathly silence that she had heard in the hallways of Hogwarts.

The fire cracked behind her, making her jump in her place and pull out her wand. Her cup shattered across he carpet, spilling tea. Between being expelled for using magic and being defenseless against the unknown, she chose the former. Thinking of a good curse, Jack waited. Tap. Tap. Tap. The noise sounded again. She trembled, but stood strong. The witch moved, then, careful to keep her back to the wall as she headed to the kitchen where the sound was coming from. A screech sounded then, making her blood freeze. Jack stopped. She couldn't breathe from fear. No, she couldn't breathe because it would hear her. Slowly, she rounded the corner, wand first.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Jack lowered her wand and rushed forward, face alight with a smile. "Aras!" She exclaimed, opening the porch door quickly, letting both the large owl and the cold winter air in. Snow had fallen that night, making the porch look like a shimmering blanket had been thrown over it. "You scared me." She scolded the bird, pushing the door closed with a small shiver.

Aras hooted in displeasure, making Jack laugh. "I know. I know. It's not your fault that I'm a scaredy-cat." He hooted once more. Finally the witch actually looked at him. He had waddled in on his claws, rather than flew in and was now shivering near the refrigerator, which was a bit counterproductive. Then, she noticed the way he held his right wing and the way it was bent slightly. Jack gasped.

X

He walked down a corridor in his house. It was cold and dark. It had been like that since he could remember. His house had been built back in the day, when the family had been building up their name, hence it was extravagant. The rooms were all large, single bed. The bathrooms were huge. The hallways were always polished along with the large columns and expensive painting hanging around. The torches on the walls never glowed with red fire, but always with blue. Always cold. Always distant.

He headed forward and into the dining room. The room was a long one, the walls also in black marble, a table stretching along the length of it, chairs on each side. He went through it, as it was empty, like most days. The only time this room was used was when his mother organized parties. They were extravagant, like everything else that she did. There would be colorful food, made by the best of French chefs all over the bland table. Expensive wine and champagne would be served, along with old Firewhisky from their basement. People would come, other prominent members of society, wearing gowns and robes, tailored and made simply for that occasion.

He was allowed to participate sometimes. Mostly, just for face. It wouldn't do good not to be present at your own mother's party, after all. So, he would appear, dressed in perfect robes, hair freshly cut and slicked back, for simply a moment. Then, he would be told to retire for the night, and he would spend the remainder of the evening listening to the music and the laughter from his room, stomach empty and eyes wet. Eventually, he had stopped crying. He was better than that. He was greater than that. He was the sole heir of the Crest of Volk.

After the dining room, came the hall. It was a giant ballroom, rivaling even the Great Hall of Hogwarts. There was a reason why he hadn't had trouble with getting lost at Hogwarts. His house had also been large, not as big as the castle, but close. Mapping it out in his mind according to the most popular way of planning in the 9th century had been easy. He had studied architecture of old buildings in his early years, curtesy of his mother.

The ballroom also held dear memories to him. That's where he had had his first dance, after all. They had held his birthday party every year, but only allowed him to properly participate in the dance when he could walk all day with a book on his head. He had asked a fine young lady to dance, the one that his mother had pointed out as the Governor's daughter, and all had been well for a while. That was, until the poor thing had stepped on his toes for the tenth time, and he hadn't been quick enough. They had fallen, him over her, making the whole room burst into laughter.

The poor girl had gone a bright red color in her face, one that he hadn't known a human could achieve. He had stood, ashamed, but acting unbothered, and then, he had yelled at her, because that's what you're supposed to do. He had shamed her even further in front of the whole room, making everyone laugh even harder. Her father had laughed, too. He had laughed as the girl cried. His mother had used her wand that night on him, teaching him a lesson. One must prevent this kind of disaster. One must always be noble and untouched. Cold. That's how an heir of the Crest of Volk was supposed to act.

He passed that room, too. He needed food. The staircase led him down and then towards the entrance. The door was large, many times taller than any man. And he knew that a giant had never been meant to enter this house, or would've been let in. Half-breeds were filthy. The door was black, like everything else, full with spikes on top, staring down at him with menace. That was quite a door. He could remember when summer had come and they would open the door in a way to welcome their guests. He could still remember his mother throwing hexes at one of the witches that had come uninvited to her party. She had married down, losing her status as a prominent family member, even though her parents were still in touch with her. But, she wasn't welcome. Losing status was like dying, vanishing and being forgotten in this society. It was unthinkable to come to the door uninvited. His mother had crucioed the woman in front of the guests, making them laugh. His mother had always loved that curse.

"Demetrius." The cold voice came from behind him, almost making him jump. Almost. Jumping would get him punished. Jumping at the mere sound of someone's voice was cowardly. And, an heir of the Crest of Volk was not a coward.

He turned to see his mother. She was a true stereotypical Russian, blonde, pale and blue eyed. He had gotten his eyes from her. Those cold, calculating eyes that he was used to staring down at him with anger, he looked at them every single morning, hating himself in her stead. She was a slim woman, not too beautiful, but not ugly either. Dmitry would describe her as painfully ordinary, hence, she always wore the best of the best and the gaudiest of the gaudy dresses in an attempt to stand out.

"Hello, Mother." He greeted, watching to keep his voice as even as possible. She didn't smile. She didn't go and hug him. She didn't welcome him home.

"How was Hogwarts?" She asked next, walking towards him. Her black, polished heels clicked against the marble floor. Dmitry felt a polite, many times practiced smile, slip onto his face.

"It is absolutely magical, Mother. Your description was accurate." It was better than she had described. It was so different that what she had told him. It was so much more. But, he didn't dare say it. Her lips tilted to the side approvingly. It wasn't a smile. It was more like a painful facial cramp.

"Splendid, my son. And, have you made any school friends?" She asked him, watching carefully for his reaction. School friends, yes. That was a common phrase. An heir of the Crest of Volk didn't make friends. No, he had acquaintances and school friends. Those were people that he could use later in life. Never friends.

"Of course, Mother. I've made many." He replied, thinking of Nettlebed and Renshaw, glad that her face brightened. The cramp-like smile had widened. Good, there would probably be no punishment tonight.

"And have you found a suitable lady to invite to your ball?" That was the question that he had been waiting for. The ball. More like a party where he got to pick his mother's next victim. He was supposed to be engaged by seventeen and married before twenty. That's why he would have to host a ball, allowing women to choose him and him to choose a woman.

"Of course, Mother." Unfortunately, the only face that had flashed through his mind at the question was a rather short girl, with slightly wavy, chocolate colored short hair and bright, kind, slivery blue eyes. She was smiling up at him, like she always did, her mouth full of food. Dmitry banished the image from his mind. "Maura McCarthy."

The cold woman nodded. "McCarthy's are a good family. Pureblood." She decided. "Though, one of their children was sorted in Ravenclaw, no?" She was frowning now.

"Maura is in Slytherin, Mother. Her cousin, Lena is in Ravenclaw." He quickly supplied. The woman nodded, not looking at him.

"Demetrius, you're free to leave." She dismissed him, and headed to grab her long scarlet coat. The latest fashion, of course, fur lined. Dmitry brightened at the dismissal, but schooled his expression to be calm.

"Have a great day, Mother." He said to her. She gave him an almost kind look before exiting into the snow outside.

Dmitry headed downstairs even further, towards the basement and the kitchens. His mother had always been cold, like the Russian winter. He didn't doubt that she loved him, never. She had simply grown up in a strict, pureblood home. That had hardened her to the point of indifference or hate. Simply, showing any emotions beside those was showing weakness. If anyone knew that, it was his mother. He didn't want to hate her, but he did. He resented the woman and all the times that she would discipline him with a swift 'Crucio' from her wand, which wasn't that rare.

His father had been a weak figure, always listening to his wife's wishes. He was man from a pureblood family, of course, as was his mother, but he was of lower status than the woman. However, due to his skill as a wizard and his family Gringotts vault, the stern woman had down-married, often receiving ridicule for it. That's also one of the reasons why she organized those balls and evenings in the villa. Because she needed to prove herself and her family. She needed to prove to everyone that the Crest of Volk was on the rise again.

"Gospodin Dmitry!" Suddenly exclaimed a small creature in front of him, making him stop. The house elf had large blue eyes, which were looking up at his master with joy. Dmitry had arrived to the kitchens. The small creature was wearing an old rag, filthy from washing and cooking. Though, you could still see that it had been a nice tablecloth once. It had embroidery on the edges, showing beautiful flowers and birds.

"Hello." The boy greeted with a rare smile. The elf had been in their family since he could remember. This was his caretaker. This was his nanny, his friend and his home. He hadn't seen his mother until this morning, the day after he had arrived home. This elf, Tvar, had picked him up at the King's Cross station. They had easily vanished in a snap of the house elf's fingers, appearing in the icy mansion in Russia.

"Would Gospodin like some food, Mr.?" The elf asked, rushing towards the kitchen. They had two more elves, but Tvar was the one that he liked the best. The small thing, named after the Russian word creature or beast, had been good to him. The elf had nursed him back to health after his mother's rampages many times. He had snuck food into the young master's chambers when he was punished for a week without meals. If Dmitry had to give a reason why he had returned home for the holidays, it wasn't because of the grand ball that his mother was planning. It wasn't because he had missed his weak character of a father. It was because of the small creature standing in front of him, ears flapping about in joy.

"If you would, please." The elf's ears began flapping wildly. It was unthinkable to say 'please' and 'thank you' to the staff, especially the non-human one. Dmitry did it. He got crucioed for it. Once, twice and then over a dozen times. But, Dmitry never learned. That lesson he would never learn. He would always love the non-human dearly. He would always sacrifice his pain to tell the little creature just how much he appreciated its care. And, he disliked calling out its name. In his head, Tvar wasn't a creature. Wasn't a thing. Wasn't a beast. In Dmitry's hand, the little elf was his friend. He thought of him warmly and quite often.

"Gospodin is kind, Mr.! Gospodin shouldn't address Tvar so politely, Mr. Especially if Gospoza is nearby!" The little creature exclaimed, but it did reach out for the wizard's hand, caressing it with care. "Did Gospodin, Mr., have a good time at his wizard school?" The elf asked, his bony hand never resting. Dmitry could feel the new bumps and cuts of the punishment that his mother often gave out. Crucio wasn't the only curse that his mother liked, after all.

"Of course. It was splendid. Would you like to hear more about it?" The pale boy asked, finally smiling. The elf gave a happy flap of his ears, petting his mater's hands once more.

"I would, very much, Gospodin. Shall Tvar and Gospodin move to the kitchen so that Tvar can prepare Mr. a nice warm meal?" Dmitry nodded, following the elf down the hall and into the busy and messy, but warm and well-lit kitchens.

X

Dragon had finished his morning practice, which lasted until noon. He had happily dismissed the team, telling them to 'scram and be back at four o'clock sharp' and then apparited to the icy road in the middle of nowhere. With a smile, he had withstood the slipping and the almost falling, because he knew that there was a warm home waiting for him, and that Jack had probably made something tasty for lunch. He had lied shamelessly to her. He had told her that he had been eating healthy while she was at Hogwarts. In fact, he had been eating canned food, almost always cold, or going to one of his team members' houses for a meal. The other thing that he did was restaurants, but he only did that when he had a date.

Grinning when he opened the door, Dragon entered, waiting for a small, happy blur to run at him, but, that didn't happen. He undid and took off his shoes, stepping onto the carpet. The house was silent, the only noise the fire which was lazily crackling. He looked about and saw a mug on the carpet, broken, the liquid spilled. Instantly, the wizard was on guard.

Dragon drew out his wand, performing a non-verbal 'Reparo' and putting the mug together. Then, he slowly crept through the living room towards the kitchen. A loud screech almost made him begin shooting out curses. Then, he heard the voice that made him instantly relax.

"I'm sorry." Another screech of pain followed. Dragon peered over the counter and saw the scene. His little daughter was sitting on the floor, the kitchen rag under her monstrous owl as she was attempting to do something with its wing. Her back was to him. Dragon breathed a sigh of relief.

"Midget, you gave me a heart attack." He told her, chuckling. The man placed his wand on the counter and shrugged off his cloak, tossing it on the barstool. The small child turned and he felt the uncomfortable pit of fear in his stomach once more. Her eyes were red and puffy and there were tears running down her cheeks. Her nose was also running. Considering that she hadn't wiped it (she had inherited his OCD about being clean) it was something urgent. "What's wrong, midget?" He immediately asked, joining her on the floor. He squatted awkwardly, trying to see if his daughter was hurt.

"It's all my fault, Pa!" Jack wailed, petting her bird's head like it was some poor creature. In Dragon's opinion, it was a spoiled, angry beast. "Aras is hurt, Pa!" She cried out, a new wave of tears emerging as she pulled the giant owl to herself gently, making him hoot in answer. Dragon sighed, patting her head.

"Why don't you let me see? Surely, it's not your fault. He's the one that was flying, not you." Jack wailed even louder.

"But I didn't bring him on the train! Everyone else brought their owls on the train! I was so sure that Aras would be more comfortable at Hogwarts and that I wouldn't need him, but then I did, and then I called him, and then he came and through the storm and he-" She kept rambling through her tears, but Dragon didn't understand what in the world the small witch was saying. So, he opted to solve the problem and hear her story later. He managed to convince a crying Jack to give him the bird, and then looked at the poor thing's wounds while it struggled. Obviously, in the time that they had been apart, Aras had not changed his opinion about Dragon, and neither had the latter.

However, the wounds weren't too terrible. He had seen his fair share of Quidditch wounds, after all. Hence, the scrapes, bruises and the broken wing weren't anything that he wasn't skilled at fixing. He took his wand from the counter and placed the owl on it. Aras hooted at him in displeasure, glaring. Jack was still wailing in the background. Dragon waved his wand about, muttering 'Episkey' and the wing was suddenly in its proper place. Aras hooted, spreading his impressive wings. Jack was slowing down in her crying. Dragon smiled and muttered a couple more spells, causing the owl's bruises and ruffled feathers to go back to their original form.

He turned to his daughter to see her smiling through her tearstained face. "Shall we talk about that whole I-caused-this thing, now?"

**That's all folks!**

**Let's go to the reviews, shall we?**

**HenriaSownbinder: I know, right? I figured, he has money, so, might as well go all out xD Besides, he's the kind of father that wants to make his little girl feel like a right princess :D Wait till the sleepovers begin!**

**I can't wait to get to the romance xD I made her and then realized that she's a mix of Lucy Pevensie and Matilda (the telekinesis one, not the Professional one), and as I went along, she became more and more developed as a character. For now, she only thinks about dragons, which is alright :P**

**The Bats simply had to be childish… I can't imagine a serious Quidditch team xD I mean, I've read the whole fouls section.. it's ridiculous! xD **

**I wanted to show a bit more of Dragon, because he seems like a cruel father in the beginning, with not writing back and all that. But, he is simply scatterbrained :D She doesn't know that she has a huge, bright family, but sees it on a more unconscious level, if that makes any sense? Lucky little lady indeed :)**

**All the best!**

**Maiannaise: Yeah, she's pretty good with the Bats :) She grew up with them, after all :P Hope you enjoyed!**

**hannahlouise1994 : Thank you very much! I hope you enjoyed the chapter :D **

**The Strange: Thank you very much! I hope that you enjoyed the chapter :) Have fun!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Welcome ladies and gents!**

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**ArmyWife22079, HinaUchi, JinxyXD, Lauren212, Cassiestrange, kazee1292 and thisWorthierKing for the alerts! I hope you enjoy the story!**

**HenriaSownbinder, hannahlouise1994, lisabuer9 and ArmyWife22079 your reviews are my food for a new chapter! **

**Enjoy!**

**AC/DC – Back in black (1980)**

Jack sat on the soft carpet of the living room (which smelled suspiciously of pineapple tea now) surrounded by wrappings and bows. She had a huge book open in front of her. It was called Do it Yourself by Milica Velimirovic (an old witch from Yugoslavia) and it described how to get around without simple magic spells. What Jack really liked was that this book contained both the instructions for the shortcut charms and the muggle way of doing those things. Obviously, some of the content was a bit off, sending her into fits of giggles, as wizards and witches didn't like to get tangled in the muggle world, hence, had some pretty funny ideas of how what worked. Then again, among all the books that she had read, this one was quite good.

Finally, all the gifts had arrived. She had ended up getting the dress for Alicia, the perfume for Angelina, the books for Lee and the sweets for everyone. She had picked up some funny singing paper at Scribbulus Writing Implements in Diagon Alley. Dragon had agreed to take her there on his way to the afternoon practice the day before, leaving her to buy things and wander about. She had met one of her friends from Hogwarts, Maura McCarthy. The girl had straight, short black hair and green eyes than always seemed to be bored. However, Maura wasn't too bad of a person to be around. She was sarcastic, snarky and had the strangest way of looking at things. Jack wandered if the girl was a tad paranoid, as she always thought that there was some hidden plot underneath someone's words.

The two had done some shopping together, Jack stopping to take Aras to the Owl Emporium for a checkup. It had turned out that Dragon was very good at taking care of small wounds and that he had done a splendid job on both the wing and the bruises. That didn't stop Jack from buying owl treats for her poor bird. Nor did it stop Aras from laying it on thick, pretending that it hurt all the time. He was enjoying the pampering a bit too much for Dragon's liking.

Jack had taken the train home, a longish ride, full of stares, as she had an owl in a cage with her. She had smiled politely at the staring people. Simply, there was nothing else that she could do. They were going to stare at the non-native owl anyways.

The small witch tied a red bow skillfully, following the instructions in the book. With a smile, she turned Charlie's present carefully, happy with her handiwork. She had gotten him a popcorn dragon, a rather beautiful female specimen. The small Common Welsh Green was walking around in its box, raging. It was frequently hitting the edges of the box, sometimes even blowing fire at it. Jack had gotten a force-proof container for her, though, making sure that the miniature dragon wouldn't burn the parcel down. She carefully attached her card and the colorful bag of sweets to it, smiling. The box rattled once more, and Jack scrunched up her nose at it.

"May I?" Captain Sherwood asked, pointing his wand at the box. He had come to stay with her while Dragon was busy with the managerial duties. They had decided to wrap and send their gifts before lunch, hence, he was flicking his wand about, making various things settle into their boxes and colorful bows tie themselves.

"Go ahead." Jack said, holding out the box to him. Captain Sherwood waved his wand in a precise motion, murmuring enchantments. The box stilled. The handsome youth gave Jack a smile, relaxing his 'concentration face' as she liked to call it. He frequently used it when planning a Quidditch strategy or casting spells. "What did you do to her?" Jack asked warily.

Captain Sherwood smiled. "Nothing bad, I promise. I simply gave her a sleeping spell. She'll wake up when she sees sunlight once more." Jack gave him a nod, suppressing a giggle. Sometimes, Captain Sherwood spoke like an old man. Sure, she expected someone like Dumbledore or Professor Kettleburn to speak like that, but not the Captain. He was so young! (and looked even younger than he was)

"Thanks, Captain." She smiled, dropping back down onto the soft carpet. He looked at her back from his position on the sofa for a moment, watching the young witch struggle with undoing a knot. With a swift flick of his wand he helped her, unnoticed. Time had passed so quickly, thought Captain Sherwood. Jack was just a small girl when he'd met her. She was a child with big silver eyes, always looking about curiously. Dragon used to braid her long hair and she would put flowers in it in the summer and spring. He could still remember her as a small kid, trying to be a mother to the irresponsible and childish professional Quidditch team. And, now, she was a first year at Hogwarts. His coach's daughter was going to become her own young woman soon. He couldn't wait to see how the coach would take her dating. Captain Sherwood chuckled at the mental image. Yes, that would be hilarious.

Jack wrapped Lawrence's gift next. She had gotten him a nice set of Wizard's Chess, in customary black and white. She had remembered him telling her how he played muggle chess, so she had decided to introduce this game to him. She had also packed her copy of the AC/DC's newest album (Blow Up Your Video released in 1988), as he had admitted to not buying the latest one, despite the fact that he was a fan of the Australian muggle band. Jack had been all too happy to pass hers down, as she had two (she'd gotten one from Charlotte and the other from her Pa) when it'd come out first. She had completed the present with sweets and a card, wrapping it all up together.

She had gotten the twins one 'together' gift (with notes on the inside items, telling who they were meant for). She had written them a card, same as everyone else, and packed a bag of sweets, making sure to double the quantity, since there were two of them, and they had brothers and a sister, who would, no doubt, nick some from them. She had ended up getting Fred a funny little Sneakoscope (a small, top-like device that began spinning furiously when Dark Arts and ill will towards its owner were nearby). She figured that he would need one, with all the jokes and pranks that they pull. George had gotten a thick, vintage-styled notebook. Charmed to make everything invisible unless the owner orders it to reveal it, it seemed to Jack like the perfect place to put all of their 'joke recipes' as they liked to call them. She didn't know much about it, simply that they wanted to open their own shop in the future. She had also packed Dungbombs into their gift, cackling madly as she did. Hopefully, they wouldn't explode on the way.

After wrapping the last couple of gifts, she had a pile of presents finally ready. Smiling, Jack turned to Captain Sherwood, to see him finished and watching her with a soft look in his eyes. He had that gentle face, the one that her Pa made when he thought she wasn't looking. "Done?" Captain Sherwood asked.

Jack nodded. "Do you think you could-?" She began, but then stopped once the wizard of age swished his wand about, making the presents lighter and smaller. "Thanks!" The small witch exclaimed, giving the older youth a short hug. He messed up her hair, causing the brilliant scarlet bow to fall out. "Captain!" Jack whined, picking it up from the floor and putting it back in her hair carefully.

"That looks good on you." He told her, laughing. She had taken one of the satin straps for the present bows and tied it into her hair. "You do know that self-tying bows exist, don't you?" He asked her as she struggled to tie the red strap into a nice shape. Jack stuck her tongue out at him, finishing her decoration.

"I don't need them. Look!" She twirled happily. Truly, the bow was perfect. "Aras!" The small witch exclaimed, picking up the presents (which could now all together fit into her pocket) and ran to the owl. Aras looked up from his position on the counter, leaving the bloody treat alone for a moment. "Are you well enough to fly?" Jack asked him, eyes begging. Captain Sherwood shook his head, trying his presents to his own owl's leg. She flew out as soon as he opened the porch door, heading to deliver.

Jack pleaded for a bit with Aras, but ended up bribing him with owl treats. She showed him carefully which present was for whom, and then packed them all in a leather pouch which she tied to his leg. She kissed his feathered head gently, petting it. "Fly safe, alright?" The owl hooted in response. Then, he grabbed the remains of his bloody meal and took off into the skies. Jack stared after him for a bit, watching lovingly as he snapped his beak at one of the local birds that had come too close to him. Her Pa had told her that even though she had dreamed of flying with Aras, there was no way that she had influenced his injuries. He had explained that she had probably become very connected to the bird and had simply dreamed it up because of her gut feeling. He had dismissed the apparent similarity of her dream and the owl's injuries as coincidence. Maybe she had overreacted a bit? Pa had healed Aras in a moment, after all. Maybe fear had made the wounds too big and grave in her eyes.

"Want to finish the tree?" Asked Captain Sherwood. Jack turned away from the window to beam up at him.

"Please!" She exclaimed and ran to tidy up their mess from wrapping presents. They had gone yesterday to search for the perfect trees. In the woods nearby, they had found and chosen the specific tree, and then took some of their pine needles. Dragon had been the one in charge of supplying the greenery this year again. He was much better at the spell than Captain Sherwood, after all. They had decided to put one big, grand tree in the living room, to the left of the fireplace. Jack had picked a tiny one for her room, barely taller than her (which she had already decorated last night with little bows and twinkling lights). Then, once they had placed the right pine needles in each pot, Dragon had performed the spell, transfiguring them into perfect replicas of their true mother tree. There had been no time for big decoration, though, leaving that for Jack and Captain Sherwood to begin the next day. Not like that had gotten any objections. Dragon tended to get a bit impossible during Christmas time (like a little, hyperactive kid), so the two responsible 'adults' preferred to work on the decorations while he was away.

In the next hour Captain Sherwood conjured many bubbles of vivid colors from the tip of his wand, letting Jack struggle with the ladder and place them on the tree with a simple verbal command. Next, they placed fluffy snakes made out of shimmering powder that sprayed everyone that passed close enough. The finishing touches were shining stars that lit up brighter and and crackled in pale starlight whenever someone said Christmas.

"It's beautiful." Said Jack, moving farther and farther from the tree so that she could see it whole. She ended up hitting the couch with her knees and allowing herself to drop on it. Captain Sherwood joined her, throwing an arm around her shoulders and giving her a side-hug.

"Agreed." Jack snuggled into his side, and they watched the shimmering stars for a moment. "We did a great job this year. It's a lot faster to work when coach isn't around." Jack giggled.

"Indeed." She nodded. "He is like a child, breaking everything. And then, he needs it all to be perfectly symmetrical." Suddenly, her face changed and she jumped off the couch. "Symmetrical!" She panicked, turning around to face Captain Sherwood with a face full of agony. "We're doomed!" She exclaimed. "We need to fix it!" And then, the little witch started bundling around the tree, arms waving about madly as she tried to get all the decorations to be perfectly symmetrical.

Captain Sherwood jumped up, picking her up before she moved all the vibrant bubbles. "Jack! Jack!" He exclaimed, pulling her away from the tree. "It's alright, he won't mind!" Jack wriggled in his arms, looking up at him.

"Are you sure? Last year he rearranged the whole tree during the night!" The small witch was tearing up. She wanted Christmas to be perfect. It was a holiday that was all about magic. All about belief. It was definitely one of her most favorite holidays ever. She didn't want her Pa to spend it glaring at the tree.

"I promise." Captain Sherwood put her on the ground, slowly letting go. Jack gave a tiny nod.

"Would you like some hot chocolate?" She suddenly asked, brightening up. Captain Sherwood gave a small nod and she rushed off to the kitchen. The Quidditch player stood still for a moment longer, looking after her. Then, he glanced at the tree. Coach really was making her a bit too aware of his OCD issues. He needed to let go a bit in his private life.

Dragon was known for his perfect Quidditch strategies. He would count the exact number of seconds in which someone needed to do something or get to a specific position. A prodigy in the sport, that's what the man was, in Sherwood's opinion. Coach was slowly teaching him how to do that. How to count seconds as he played. How to notice the tiniest of signs and muscle movements in the opposing team. How to be, not just a good player, but a great player.

But, the brilliant man tended to bring the mess of his professional life into his private life, always having a perfect plan for everything. You could see it in his daughter the best. Even though he goofed off most of the time, she was a perfect picture of what he was feeling. He strived for perfection, and so did she. Yet, perfection was unattainable, Sherwood knew that all too well.

"Captain! Are you coming?" Jack yelled from the kitchen, bringing him out of his thoughts. He wasn't worried, though. The little girl was hardheaded and independent. She would get out of her father's shadow soon enough. He could already see it, too. He had seen her room, after all.

X

Christmas Eve had been splendid that year. Jack could remember it perfectly for a long, long time. Dragon had come home late, bringing a humongous chocolate cake. Sumerbee and Sindy had come by, also bringing food and drinks, but they had left rather quickly, heading to another party. Captain Sherwood and Dragon had sat on the soft carpet, playing Exploding Snap until Jack entered and scolded them for charring the carpet. They had eaten dinner and all gone to bed, Captain Sherwood staying in one of the guestrooms (which was quickly furnished that evening).

The next morning was eventful. Jack had gotten up first, running downstairs with a joyous yell. This had woken up the two men. Opening presents was always a show when Dragon was involved. He had various aunts and estranged uncles that didn't like him, or liked him too much, hence sent him weird things. The three had spent at least an hour laughing at a very badly hand painted set for tea, which was charmed to sprout the scorching liquid everywhere, especially on the drinker.

"I think that this is a hidden message!" Dragon laughed.

"Do you think they're trying to tell you 'don't come for tea'?" Asked Captain Sherwood, chuckling.

"Or 'don't shag the maid when you've come over for tea'?" Jack asked with one raised eyebrow, causing silence. The words sounded a bit weird when she said them, but that didn't change their meaning. Her Pa had dropped his jaw, gaping at her. Then, Captain Sherwood began laughing. Dragon gaped for a moment longer.

"Where'd you hear that word!?" He yelled (shrieked), eyes wide in disbelief. Jack shrugged.

"What?" She raised one eyebrow, completely calm. "You say it all the time when you think I'm not listening." Dragon gaped once more. Captain Sherwood fell over from laughter, holding his stomach. Jack picked up another present calmly, shaking it near her ear to guess the contents. "Just like many others." Captain Sherwood wheezed, heaving from too much laughter. Dragon gaped.

"B-but, you don't know what they mean, right?" He asked shakily. Jack gave him a bright smile. They both ignored the laughing Quidditch player next to them. "You don't, right?" Then, Dragon asked a bit slower, less sure in his words. "Right?"

Jack grinned happily, shrugging. Captain Sherwood rose up a bit calmer, only to fall back down in another fit upon seeing Dragon's horrified face. "It's only true, though." Said Jack, opening the pink present calmly, like they weren't talking about an age-sensitive topic at all.

"She wasn't a maid. She was a cater." Murmured Dragon into his chin, picking another present.

"Like that's any better!" Captain Sherwood said breathlessly through his laughter. Jack giggled. Then, the younger two exploded into another fit of laughter.

"Midget!" Exclaimed Dragon after a moment. "You got me a present!" He looked like a child, ectatic, the most recent topic completely gone from his mind.

"Same here." Smiled Captain Sherwood, choosing the black and blue, modern looking present. "Mine's much better wrapped, too." Boasted the blonde youth with a grin.

"They are both packed the same way." Jack cut off the upcoming argument and whining without looking. She was a bit preoccupied with opening her present from Charlie, a large book about dragon eggs and how to differentiate them.

"At the same time?" Asked Dragon, grinning.

"Let's go!" Exclaimed Captain Sherwood, neither man noticing the way Jack silently and sneakily got up, heading away from them before they opened her presents. With a grin, she walked upstairs, Charlie's book under her arm and a bunch of other presents that she had gotten in her hands. There was a loud bang and then.

"Jack!"

"Midget!" The two yelled from downstairs. "You sneaky little-" Captain Sherwood drowned out her Pa's numerous cusswords by putting a hand over his mouth. Jack could hear the muffled yells for a bit longer.

Mission Dungbomb Presents: Success!

X

To Jack, it seemed that all too soon Christmas was over and she was on the King's Cross station once more, hugging Captain Sherwood goodbye. Dragon was busy once more, leaving their honorary family member to see her off. Jack gave him a tight hug, attempting to squish him as hard as she could with her small arms. Captain Sherwood returned the gesture and then pulled away slowly. The train stop was as full as usually, noisy with many people pushing about and animals screeching.

"You better get going." He said, dragging her trunk all the way to the scarlet train and loading it in. Then, he easily picked Jack up, too and placed her in the train, too, making her skip all the steps. She grinned, giggling at him. There were girls and mothers gaping, recognizing the handsome Quidditch Captain, but Jack didn't care. He ruffled her hair and then placed a kiss on it before she threw her arms around his neck once more.

"I'm going to miss you, Captain." She told him, squeezing. He patted her back gently.

"Don't worry, little Dragon. You'll be back here in a jiffy!" They split up for the last time, Captain Sherwood with a smile and Jack with watery eyes. The little witch then picked up her trunk and pulled it all the way to an empty compartment. She opened the window with some trouble and stuck her head and torso all the way out, standing on the seat.

"Make sure that Pa eats healthy!" Jack yelled to Captain Sherwood as soon as he noticed her. When he gave a nod, she added. "Don't overwork yourself! Dry your hair all the time! Make sure that Uncle Fin doesn't bust his knee again!" The train whistle sounded as Jack kept counting off things for the Captain to do. He waved at her and she returned the gesture, slipping back into the compartment almost all the way. With a sigh, she dropped to her seat as soon as the handsome man vanished from her field of vision.

Jack took out Charlie's book then, continuing her reading. She was almost halfway through. She was astounded to see that there were still things that she didn't know about dragons. Obviously, Charlie had noticed her lacking points and was helping her overcome her weaknesses. The compartment door opened and a very familiar dark haired girl peeked in. Jack warily raised her eyes.

"Is it free here?" Angelina asked reluctantly. Jack hadn't received anything from her for Christmas. Not even a card. The small witch nodded, not really wanting to talk. She still hadn't cried out all her tears about not getting anything from her friend. Nor about fighting with her. "Thanks." Angelina pulled her trunk in, struggling to place it in the designated space. Jack jumped up and helped, returning to her seat a little while later, out of breath. "Thanks." Repeated the other first year.

For a while, the compartment was deathly silent. Jack was pretending to read while Angelina studied Quidditch Through the Ages. The small witch couldn't concentrate on her book anymore. She was actually considering seeking out Lawrence. Or maybe Fred and George. Heck, she'd even take the most annoying Weasley of the bunch, Percy, (who never stopped talking about his academic success) over a grumpy Angelina. It seemed that her friend's anger had only grown stronger in their time apart.

"I overreacted." The other witch suddenly said, not raising her eyes from the Quidditch book. Jack gave her a surprised look. "I didn't know your circumstances and I insisted that you tell Charlie about that thing. I should've known better." Now, Angelina looked up. "You're too honest and loyal to betray us." She said, sounding a bit ashamed.

"I know why you wanted me to tell." Said Jack, closing her book. "But, it was my promise with Fred and George." Jack explained. "It wasn't mine to tell." Angelina nodded and another award silence ensued.

"Thanks for the perfume and the chocolates, by the way. I really wanted the Golden Veela." The dark haired girl spoke up.

"No problem. I knew you wanted it." Jack replied, a bit too stiff. Angelina rummaged through her bag, taking out a golden and red parcel and handing it to Jack.

"I didn't get to send this. We don't have an owl yet, so I ended up bringing all the presents with me to hand out." The girl explained causing a heavy stone to fall off of Jack's chest. The small witch grinned then, opening her present. There was a small bag, like an over-shoulder pouch, inside, leather, with a dragon painted on it. She grinned, immediately putting it on. She noticed a tiny belt that was meant to hold the wand.

"It's beautiful." Jack gasped and then stretched over to hug Angelina. When she did, she noticed that the girl was wearing the new perfume. They split up, suddenly in a giggling fit. Jack took her wand from her sock and placed it in the pouch belt loop. "Where's Alicia?" Asked the small witch.

Angelina snorted characteristically. "What do you think?" She shook her head in disbelief. "She's chasing Diggory, that's where she is." Angelina grumbled. "She sent me over a dozen or so letters with a detailed description of his hair and the way his eyes 'sparkle like jewels'." The dark haired witch made her voice all high pitched, attempting to imitate Alicia's (and failing miserably). Jack laughed.

"That's Alicia for you." She agreed, settling better in her seat. Suddenly, everything felt better. She was at peace, even though they were going back to school, where there was something lurking in the shadows.

It didn't seem that scary at that moment.

**That's all folks!**

**Onto the reviews!**

**HenriaSownbinder: Overly cocky, check! He is kind of cocky, but only for show :P Other than that, he's a pretty decent guy… Womanizer hahahahha**

**Oh, Jack is just starting her drama… oh man… so many ideas, so little time to write…. :( Soooooooon!**

**The Quidditch team is hilarious in my opinion xD I tried to make them less anime and more real, but I tend to watch a looooot of One Piece, so I can't promise anything :P I guess that they get a bit insane around Christmas time… I figured that a sports team needed a bit of insanity.. All of the ones that I was in were crazy xD **

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**hannahlouise1994: Glad that you liked the Dmitry snippet :D I felt the need to explain him a bit more :D Just so he doesn't come off as too much of an unexplained asshole :P Hope you enjoyed!**

**lisabuer9: I'm glad that you enjoyed the stuff about Dmitry :) I realized that in my head it all made sense, but not in my readers'. So, I figured a bit of screen time for him is good :D He's gonna pull through, don't worry :) Dmitry is a live one :P**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**ArmyWife22079: We'll see… Maybe it is a shapeshifter? Who knooooows :P I know the show, I've seen most of Supernatural :D I mean… Misha Collins! He's insane! I adore him xD**

**Hope you enjoyed!**


	17. Chapter 17

**I'm aliiiiiive! Welcome ladies and gents!**

**Let me give out thanks!**

**For the favs:** **chocolatecheesecakes, midnightcures , suburban dad, OneInsomniaticHoosier, TheReclusiveLynx, Enigmaticity, Snaep, thedesignproject and NotSoFunnyGirl!**

**For the alerts: chocolatecheesecakes, midnightcures, suburban dad, OneInsomniaticHoosier, TheReclusiveLynx, Thedesignproject, Dove is the Way and snaep!**

**And oh my Gods for the so many reviews! I'm humbled xD HenriaSownbinder, ArmyWife22079, Emma Hynes, chocolatecheesecakes, Maiannaise, OneInsomniaticHoosier and crystalnurani! **

**As you've noticed, I'm having a bit of a writer's block xD (and reading a loooot of LOTR xD) But, quality over quantity! Be patient with me, I'm in for the long run! :D**

**Enjoy!**

**Enya – The Longships (1988)**

It was quite surprising how little time was needed for Jack to fall back into her usual routine. It seemed like it had been yesterday that she was seeing Hogwarts for the second time from the train, feeling overwhelmed by the beauty of the huge castle. However, a few days had passed and the small witch had gotten back to her usual routine. Get up early, go to the Owlery, eat breakfast, go to class, lunch, some more classes, some studying and homework, dinner and then lights out. She had realized just how much she had missed Angelina and Alicia. It felt so great, so normal, to have the two always with her. Then again, that meant that the twins weren't as persistent in their pestering as they had been before the holidays. Sure, Fred and George were stubborn like two mules, and always got what they wanted, but they simply didn't spend as much time with Jack, but rather joined the group along with Lee. Later, when Jack thought about her time at Hogwarts, it was around that time that their little group was formed.

Jack sat at the Gryffindor table on an early Wednesday morning, surprisingly alone. She had a book open in front of her, her legs up on the bench in a very un-lady like way, but the small girl didn't really care. She was currently not even in this universe. She was traveling with the main characters of her novel, seeing the imaginary world with her own eyes.

"Morning, Knight. Thanks for the Christmas presents, they were great." Greeted someone, dropping next to Jack. She gave a nod, but continued to read. Her nose was scrunched up in concentration. "Interesting read?" Asked the person again, not giving up. Jack gave another nod and then put one finger up, telling him to wait. She needed to finish the sentence. "Alright then." The boy next to her clearly gave up. Jack gave a smile as she finished the paragraph.

The small witch turned around, putting her legs under the table once more, her finger holding the page. Sure enough, on her right was Scott Lawrence, the cute Hufflepuff with a charming smile and an even more charming personality. "Hello Lawrence." Jack greeted, leaning over to give him a small hug. Lawrence laughed, pushing his toast away and turning to her to return the embrace better.

"I can't believe that between the book and me, you chose the book." He teased as they let go. Jack frowned, showing him the finger that was still holding the page.

"I actually stopped reading, which is a feat in itself!" The witch retorted. "The books are amazing! This is the third in the series, and I can't help myself. I just keep reading." The girl explained, causing Lawrence to pull her hand with the book to himself. He read the title and then gasped.

"You're reading Narnia?!" Lawrence exclaimed excitedly. Jack gasped, now fully turning to him. "Is that-?"

"The Voyage of the Dawn Treader!" Jack filled in happily. "You've read it then?" She knew that there were many reasons why she spent a lot of her time with Lawrence. One of those reasons was their similar taste in music. However, knowing that he shared her love for C.S. Lewis brightened her day. She was a big fan of his work, after all.

"I've read all of the Narnia books." Lawrence replied, grinning excitedly. "What about you?" He wanted to know.

Jack frowned a bit. "I've finished the first two, but I'm halfway through this one. I suppose I'll be done by the end of the week?"

Lawrence nodded. "They aren't that thick. A rather short read, in fact. Who is your favorite character?" The young wizard asked, smiling gently. He grabbed the pumpkin juice pitch and poured some for both of them.

"It's got to be Prince Caspian the Tenth for me!" Jack answered immediately. Lawrence laughed.

"Really?" He seemed surprised.

"Why so surprised?" Asked Jack. "You thought I'd like someone else?"

Lawrence shrugged. "I suppose I thought it would be Queen Lucy the Valiant for you." He smiled. "You two are so much alike, after all."

Jack felt her cheeks go very hot. She was pretty sure that one could fry an egg on them if they so wished right then. Lucy Pevensie, or Queen Lucy the Valiant was one of the main characters in the Chronicles of Narnia. A brave young girl with unshakable belief in magic. Jack didn't think of herself as brave. Reckless, yes, brave, not so much.

"I don't know." She replied, suddenly finding her eggs and bacon very interesting. Lawrence smiled.

"I think you are like her." The boy remained steadfast. Jack smiled, but didn't answer after that. She simply didn't know what to say. No, she wasn't one of those that doubted themselves. She, maybe, believed in her abilities a bit too much sometimes, but she didn't have low self-esteem. However, to be compared to a character from a book, especially one such as Queen Lucy (who was one of her favorite characters, one of those that Jack admired for their qualities and faults) brought modesty to her that she didn't know she possessed.

"Have you read Tolkien's work also?" Lawrence spoke once more, successfully catching the small witch's attention. She nodded enthusiastically, swallowing the eggs and toast quite quickly.

"I have!" Jack replied, taking her goblet. "I like the Lord of the Rings trilogy the best." Lawrence kept nodding, his smile making his eyes light up. "But, I've also read The Hobbit and The Silmarillion." When she saw the boy flinch on the latter book title, she giggled. "I know, dreadfully boring, but still of the greatest quality! I simply had to know about Glorfindel of Gondolin and Fëanor and his sons!" Jack returned her goblet to the table after a small sip of pumpkin juice.

"The one with the blonde hair?" Lawrence asked, eyebrow raised comically. Jack laughed, nodding.

"That one! Though, a lot of elves in Middle Earth are blonde. The Vanyar have golden hair, while others, such as Noldor, Sindar, and Avari, have dark hair. Then, there are Teleri, who have almost silver hair." Jack began explaining, her voice taking a certain tone, one that she often had when she spoke about dragons and ancient wars. Lawrence put his hands up in defense, smiling.

"I give up. I must admit that I'm better versed in Narnian tales than those of Middle Earth." The wizard spoke. "Though, I do remember that elf, the golden haired one, by his hair. He slays the beast-"

"Balrog." Interjected Jack.

Lawrence nodded. "Balrog." He corrected his mistake. "But, he falls off the mountainside because the be- Balrog catches his hair, no?" The boy finished with a question.

Jack laughed merrily. "True. No wonder you remembered him by his hair then!" The two laughed. More smiles joined them, making Jack look about. The Great Hall had filled during their discussion. She spotted Angelina and Alicia sitting a little ways down, but didn't stand to join them. Somehow, her friends always left her alone when she was with Lawrence. Jack suspected that they were hoping for her to fall in love with the boy and then marry him as soon as they left Hogwarts and to have her happily ever after. The scheming little duo.

Then again, Jack thought, looking back at Lawrence as he continued talking about the tactics used in The First Battle of Beruna happily, attempting to demonstrate them with the remaining food on his plate. Lawrence wasn't handsome by any means (he was certainly no Captain Sherwood, who was the epitome of handsome to Jack). No, Scott Lawrence was cute.

With messy, slightly curly, brown hair and kind eyes the color of chestnuts, he looked harmless enough. However, as soon as he smiled that sweet smile of his, (never a smirk, always a smile) with one dimple showing, he could melt anyone's heart. Jack had seen Professor McGonagall fall for his bright, innocent grin and adorable puppy look. Yes, Lawrence was one of those that could get out of detention with a smile, a terrifying ability that Jack had attempted to acquire herself many times, (however, teary eyes had worked best for her always).

All in all, Lawrence was undeniably someone that she could imagine as a perfect boyfriend (in the years to come, of course). Though, she simply couldn't see herself as the girl on his arm in that mental image. No, she saw herself helping him decide where to take the girl, what to wear, helping him tame his hair, but not waiting for him, all beautified at the designated meeting place. He was her friend, as she was his, and she was sure that there was nothing romantic between them. Not for a while anyways, despite Alicia's not-so-subtle nudging in that direction.

"-and then when the reinforcements came! That was simply brilliant! Amazing timing!" The boy exclaimed, Jack's mind slowly clearing and re-focusing on is words. He pushed his plate away, grinning. "Amazing." He said once more, not looking wishfully into his plate. Jack briefly wondered what had made him look so longingly at his leftover bacon (that had been the griffins of Peter's army moments ago). She had never seen Lawrence sad or melancholic. Then again, she hadn't seen him angry, either.

"Truly, Narnia is one of the books that I've ever had the opportunity to read." Jack agreed with a soft smile. Lawrence gave her a look and a grin of his own, and she suddenly felt like she was too close to him. She didn't know why, but Jack scooched a bit back, moving away from him, but she couldn't break their eye contact. Somehow, those hazel eyes had captured her silver ones with their joyful twinkling, yet with depth of emotion that she hadn't noticed before. Suddenly, the witch wished that she wasn't able to gage one so well based solely on their eyes.

"But you prefer Tolkien." The boy spoke, his voice lower than before. The murmur of the Great Hall was simply background noise then, and Jack heard the words clearly. She felt her tongue catch onto the roof of her mouth so she settled for nodding. Lawrence's smile widened. "I suppose we complete each other's base of knowledge quite well then." He said. "You'll have to teach me some more about the Middle Earth, then. As well as you should learn about Narnia." Jack nodded once more, not trusting her voice to be steady.

"Look, Forge!" Exclaimed a voice behind Jack. Suddenly, the laughter and chatter in the Great Hall was loud once more. Then, a body plopped in between her and Lawrence.

"I see, Gred." The other redhead settled on the other side of the Hufflepuff boy.

"Bacon!" They chorused, sending each other knowing looks and waggling their eyebrows. Jack frowned, her nose scrunching up. Lawrence suddenly found his plate to be very interesting. His last encounter with the twins had landed him in the Hospital Wing, vomiting slugs.

"What's wrong with you two!" Jack rhetorically exclaimed, crossing her arms in disapproval. It seemed that the two simply had to torment her whenever Lawrence was nearby.

George gave her a sly smirk. "Nothing, little Dragonling."

"A lot." Supplied Fred, nodding, as if deep in thought. The witch shook her head. Lawrence hurriedly excused himself, bidding goodbye to Jack and almost fell over his cloak in his hurry to leave.

Jack turned, rounding on the twins. "Why are you so terrible to him?" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in anger. "He hasn't done anything to either of you! In fact, he is the sweetest boy that I know!" The witch yelled now, face going red with anger, nose even more scrunched up.

George shrugged. "He's good sport."

"I second." Fred agreed. Jack was pretty sure that she knew how McGonagall felt when she scolded the twins. She simply couldn't believe the nerve of the two.

"Well, maybe if you stopped and looked around, you'd see that you are no Merlins yourselves! You don't have the right to torment other students!" She fired. Suddenly, Fred stood, turning to her with a teasing grin. However, she could see the anger in his eyes. He was always the more fiery of the two. Jack had noticed it in his responses.

"Well, if you remember a bit back, you quite enjoyed the fact that we paid attention in Charms, did you not?" The redhead said.

"That's another matter completely!" Jack didn't give George time to input.

"So, as long as you profit from our mischief, it's alright to do it?" Fred goaded. Jack put her hands on her hips, anger on her face. But, before she could bite back, laughter sounded throughout the Great Hall. The short haired witch turned, only to see Dmitry (whom she still counted as her friend) getting up in a hurry. His nose was getting larger and larger by the second, and by the time that he was walking out the doors, he had to hold his head to keep it from hitting the floor.

"That was brilliant, mate."

"Thanks." The witch turned to see the twins high-five. She felt that icy anger once more. The kind when her temper finally broke and when she snapped. She picked up her things calmly, took her book and hopped over the seat. Then, she waited as the twins began to eat, thinking that she had left. It was when their guard was down, when they were most vulnerable, that Jack finally raised her, rather slim, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader book and smacked one and then the other on their heads.

"You foul gits!" Jack exclaimed for good measure over their yelps of pain and howls of laughter in the Hall. Then, she spun on her heel and headed to the library.

X

Coming back to Hogwarts was like returning to freedom. At the school, they had a reputation. They had built a persona, something that they had always wanted to be. Finally, he was free of his mother's watchful eye, not to mention Bill's. Then again, the eldest brother hadn't been unsupportive of all of their pranks. Just some. Alright, most. He scolded them from time to time, but there was always a certain air of approval around Bill as he did that. After all, he was a rebel himself. He had decided to grow out his hair in his sixth year at Hogwarts and it had pushed their mother to her wit's end. It was also Bill that had gotten the twins their first batch of dungbombs ever.

Charlie was alright for most part. Sure, they still preferred to deal with Bill, but the younger wasn't too bad either. He was partially supportive in their mischievousness, letting them slide here and there. Truly, Charlie was one of the reasons why their mother hadn't come to Hogwarts and taken them back home already. He sometimes briefly wondered what they would do when Charlie left school. Those thoughts didn't stay too long in his head, though. Their dragon-obsessed brother was a bit airheaded for their preference, unlike the steadfast Bill, whose attention you had once you gained it, Charlie tended to drift off into his imaginary land. Then again, he also had a habit of jumping, suddenly alert, whenever he heard anything related to dragons. It had gone past the amusing level once their brother had opened Jack's present. She had sent him a bloody dragon, that idiot. And they had gotten a silly Sneakoscope and a weird book. The dungbombs were fine. The sweets, too. But a book?

Percy had luckily steered clear of the twins during the holidays. He had a picture of some Ravenclaw girl in his favorite Charms book that he kept looking at when he thought nobody was around. Fred and George had already made a plan to find out her identity and cause trouble there. That would mean that Percy would once again begin to torment them with his lectures, but the twins were going to bear that. After all, a quiet Percy wasn't a fun Percy.

The two also liked Ron. Their littlest brother was their favorite target. During the Christmas holidays their mother had caught them pouring pepper into Ron's soup. However, the woman had been too busy scolding them to get her youngest child not to eat the dish. He had turned a delightful shade of red, spluttering and coughing for the duration of the whole day. The twins were simply elated at their success, despite the reddened ears from their mother's pulling.

Ginny simply wasn't fair game. For now, as the smallest of the lot, she was considered neutral ground. You simply didn't prank the most vulnerable. When they couldn't defend themselves, they weren't fun. That was the code. The twins never crossed that line. Once the girl got old enough, well, that was another story altogether. They would have to make up for lost time. But, their sister was a fast learner. Despite being barely eight, she managed to set off some of their dungbombs (curtesy of Jack) and make their mother fume and punish the twins. Fred and George's protests had fallen on deaf ears.

But, despite the loving family, the twins simply couldn't wait to escape their mother. She was overbearing, watching them like a hawk and always ready to scold and punish them. Fred had grown tired of it. George kept reminding him that that was simply how she showed that she cared, but his brother would hear none of it. It was the freedom of Hogwarts that he yearned for, and he knew that his twin felt the same. It was when they came to the school that they had heard so much about that they had finally become themselves.

Somehow, they had always been in the shadow of their siblings in the family. Fred could still remember the way that their own mother used to look at them when they were younger. He sometimes hoped that George didn't remember, but he, too, probably did. He had always been the more observant of the two. They had shared many long talks about those looks. The nostalgic, almost tearful ones. At first, they had thought that their mother was so disappointed with them and their jokes that she would cry. Then, they had learned of their fallen uncles, Fabian and Gideon Prewett. That's when it all made sense. The two children reminded their mother of her brothers. He often felt guilty that he couldn't remember them, but it had been such a long time ago. And, he had been young. Merely three years old when his uncles had been murdered. He could only recall bits and pieces of various family dinners and birthdays.

Fred frowned, feeling his head swim slightly and sat down on one of the stone benches. His breath fogged and he slightly shivered, but he stayed there for a bit, clearing his head. Hogwarts had gotten cold during the winter. Their common room and their dorms were warm, almost hot, also the Great Hall and most classrooms. But, that left the icy corridors and the freezing lower levels of the castle. He mostly didn't mind, but he sometimes left in a hurry (due to nighttime exploration of the castle and late mornings) and forgot his sweater. Yes, the new one from his mother. Quite a likeable color this year, too. Red. It clashed with his hair terribly, he knew.

Feeling better, the Weasley stood, heading to class. He had noticed his fatigue since he had come to the school. At first, he had thought it only the absence of familiar things and his mother. After all, this was the first time that they had left her. But, then he noticed the changes. He was plagued at night by terrible dreams. He would find himself in their dormroom, terrible, pitch black smoke leaking in from the windows and the fireplace, from beneath the door. He would try and wake his brother, then their friends, but nobody was stirring. In the end, he would try and open something before they all suffocated, but it was no use. Even his wand never worked in his dreams (it was always the first thing that he tried). In the end, a large shape would launch at him, throwing him back onto his bed and he would feel fur in his mouth and under his hands, great weight would settle on his chest and then, he would wake. Most of the time, it was George that woke him.

Due to these night terrors, as much as he didn't want to admit, Fred was losing sleep. And, it had become increasingly obvious. He was used to Jack sometimes telling him and George apart, but not Lee, Angelina or Alicia. And, before the holidays, the three could clearly tell them apart. Now, not so much. He had slept like a baby in his and George's joined beds at home. But, since returning to Hogwarts, the dreams had returned, as well. It was a bother, but he was comforted by the fact that they weren't as intense as they used to be. Now, the darkness would simply seep into the room as he sat on the bed, chanting with his wand drawn.

"Mr. Vesley." An accented voice caught his attention and Fred spun around only to come face to face (more like waist) with Vasilescu.

He gave the slightly creepy, but undoubtedly beautiful, Professor a cheeky smile. "Professor Vasilescu! How lovely to see you this fine afternoon!" He remarked with a mock bow. The woman's lips curved slightly on one side. She had always seemed to approve of him and George. He couldn't deny that he liked that.

"Flattery vill get you novhere." The Professor shook her head with disappointment, but her eyes were twinkling with a laugh. "Vai aren't you in class, Mr. Vesley?" The woman asked, heading down the corridor and signaling for him to follow her.

Fred winced, looking to the ground guiltily. "I was just heading to Flying, Professor. I went to the dorm to get my jumper." Vasilescu nodded and for a moment, the two walked in silence. Fred could barely hear her footsteps beside his own.

"Hov come you forgot your jumper on such a cold day?" The woman asked as if coming out of a thought. He looked up, wondering if he should tell her. Then, the idea vanished from his head as soon as it had arrived there. He had talked to George about it. His bother agreed. Dreaming of black smoke and furry things wasn't normal. If there was anyone that he would talk to about that, it would be Dumbledore. Then again, Vasilescu was his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. This may be in her field of profession.

"I slept it this morning." The twin finally settled on a sheepish grin and an innocent answer. Vasilescu looked at him strangely with her dark eyes, as if she knew that he wasn't telling her the whole story. Then, she seemed to let it go.

"Perhaps you should get an alarm clock, Mr. Vesley? Or head a bit earlier to bed?" She gave him another smiling look, and Fred knew that she was aware of his and his brother's little trips around the castle at night. He smiled an awkward, and quite guilty looking, smile.

"I will do my best in the future, Professor." They were almost at the corridor where he would head towards the field for Flying Lessons.

"Safe flying, Mr. Vesley." Vasilescu called out to him as they split up, her preparing to head to her office. She watched him leaving for a moment longer, standing still as a statue on the fork of the corridors. Her white and silver robes matched her pale hair and skin, floating softly in the wind from one of the open windows. Something shuffled in the darkness of one of the halls, but Vasilescu paid it no mind. It was probably a runaway sixth year with his bonnie lass.

All emotion left the Professor's face as she turned to her previous path and her office. She had papers to grade before she headed out tonight. It was going to be a busy one.

**That's all folks!**

**HenriaSownbinder: I was a bit afraid of making it seem too romantic between Sherwood and Jack xD But, thankfully, it seems that I pulled through xD He was a spur of the moment character, but I'm glad that he came out well :D **

**Angelina and Jack have made up... And then the silly midget went and yelled at the twins xD Hahahaha! Just kidding, Fred and George aren't like the girls, they won't hold it over her :P**

**Hope you enjoyed the little Fred POV kind of thing… I was finally brave enough to put it out there xD**

**ArmyWife22079: Oh man, Jensen…. I get it xD I never saw Smallville till the end… but I adored the 1&2 season of Spn :D **

**I can see the Jack-Rapunzel resemblance… interesting :)**

**Emma Hynes: WELCOME BACK! :D It's alright, I know what you mean about reading all at once :) That's the best :) I've read a couple of stories last week, all completed and felt soooo hmmm at ease… I knew the end! XD**

**You may keep Sherwood for a while… (Please be careful to address him as Luke only :P )**

**Chocolatecheesecakes: When I saw that you reviewed, I swear my eyes flew right out onto the keyboard xD Thank you so much! I'm actually a big fan of your story (Unconditionally) xD I haven't read it all the way through, but I do promise to review once I finish xD It was one of my inspirations to write this one xD**

**Now then, back to the point :D I'm glad that the characters don't come off as MS and GS :D I did quite a few tests to attempt to prevent that :) I'm terrible with Mary Sues sometimes…**

**The Quidditch team was simply needed :D Those are the crazy people that Jack grew up with, she had to build her 'motherly' side somehow :P Let's face it, every one of those guys is a child on the inside (Even Summerbee!) The maid thing seemed like something that Dragon would do, n'est pas? ;)**

**I'm also a child from a single parent household, so I can often relate to Jack, and to Dragon sometimes, too. A kid doesn't come with instructions, and they are both trying to make the best of it. Jack's mom hasn't been mentioned yet, and I'm not sure when she will be… Currently, Jack doesn't really need that part of the whole thing. She loves Dragon and considers him her family. He is trying to be both her mom and dad (kind of failing), but not for a while, sorry. I do have a background for her, though. I'm not sure if she'll even appear in the fanfiction..**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Maiannaise: I'm glad that you like them :) All the best!**

**OneInsomniaticHoosier: Thank you very much! Unfortunately, I can't really promise fast updates… Quality over quantity, right? :D **

**Crystalnurani: You should be content with how you were as a child, because it made you the wonderful person that you are today :D Jack was simply surrounded by a crowd that didn't allow for her to become an introvert (just look at the Quidditch team xD) I can sort of relate to what you're saying, though. I used to be a terrible introvert, and then I gradually changed.. Now, you can't make me shut up xD**

**I'm aiming to go year by year and develop the characters slowly, sorry xD I'm in for the long run with this story… And it's probably going to come in sequels and stuff, one for each year… Really, no idea for now xD I might put some of the ones described in the Harry Potter books together, because I won't have as much freedom during the overlap of their time at Hogwarts as I have now? Does that make sense? xD **

**Hope you enjoyed!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Welcome ladies and gents!**

**A wrote a bit extra in this one xD 1k longer than the usual chapters :D Anyways, let me give my thanks!**

**For the favs: Aelin08, Freddie4153, alexiav23, Peaceful Watcher Soul and Shepard20james!**

**For the alerts: bai2468, Aelin08, BritanyJean, alexiav23, sdren, Peaceful Watcher Soul and CellophaneCatastrophy!**

**For the reviews: HenriaSownbinder, ArmyWife22079, Emma Hynes, chocolatecheesecakes, Freddie4153 and crystalnurani!**

**You guys all keep me writing :D**

**Now, I need to give special thanks to Emma Hynes for her shoutout! She has a wonderful crossover story called Moving On, all you Klaus (TVD) fans, go check it out ;)**

**That's all from me (I really do try to keep these short xD)**

**Enjoy!**

**AC/DC – T.N.T. (1976)**

It was well after midnight, and it was pitch black in the corridor. The night was cloudy, so there wasn't any moonlight or starlight to show her the way. Even the torches that usually cast long shadows with their bright flame seemed dimmed in a way. However, the witch knew her way from the Astronomy Tower to the Gryffindor common room well. She had walked that path a little over a dozen times, and, despite the frequently switching staircases, she was quite certain that she could navigate it in the dark.

She didn't mind the late classes. In fact, she preferred night to day. It was somehow peaceful, relaxing. There was no noise around. There was no one watching her, forcing her to become someone that she wasn't for the sake of another. No, in the nighttime, she was free to be herself. She could pull her hair up in a bun, leaving her neck bare. It was a taboo in her family, as she had a birthmark that her mother often reminded her to hide. The girl thought it ugly, as well. So, she hid it as she was told.

But, that wasn't everything. In the nighttime, she could become whoever she wished to be, without anyone there to tell her otherwise. She liked to walk down the corridor and pretend that she was a princess in a huge castle, talking to the suits of armor and the various portraits on the walls. She would dance here and there, practicing the steps of the waltz that she had learned as a young child to attend a ball that never came. It was unfortunate that they had lost their money. No matter their pureblood status, her family was poor and thus, frowned upon. She would never be the beautiful princess at one of the balls that the old fashioned families often organized for matchmaking. No, she was a poor girl. A poor and ugly girl. A disgrace.

The blonde witch stopped, the hairs on the back of her bare neck standing up. She quickly let go of her curls, letting them fall down past the middle of her back. Her robes slowly stilled, too, as they had been swaying with her movements while she pretended that they were a beautiful ball gown. The hallway had suddenly gone quiet in an eerie way. It was an unnatural silence. One that wasn't broken by neither the soft murmurs of the portraits nor the muffled sounds of the wind outside. The witch stood for a moment, listening and looking at the hallway behind her. She suddenly regretted staying behind to ask question about Venus and its orbit.

Turning back to her path, the witch hurried onwards. This time, she didn't pretend anything. No, she wasn't a princess this time. This wasn't her castle this time. She was a scared little witch in a huge school full of danger. She bit her lip as she grasped her book bag even tighter. She was close to the Gryffindor common room. Just a few more corridors.

She threw a look over her shoulder quickly. There was nothing but darkness there. She sped up regardless, fear gripping her. She didn't know why. Hogwarts was safe. The school had always been one of the safest places in the world. With Professor Dumbledore as the headmaster, no evil witch or wizard would dare strike against the castle. Except maybe You-Know-Who. But, he was long dead, like her father always told her. The Boy Who Lived had saved them all. Harry Potter had saved them all. She had nothing to fear.

Another bout of chills passed her slim frame and the girl didn't listen to her instincts. Despite that everything in her told her to run, she looked behind her for the third time, standing still as a statue for a moment. There was silence. Nothing moved. She managed to get her ragged, terrified, breathing under control, making it as quiet as possible. Despite the fast thumping of her heartbeat in her ears, she could hear the deafening silence everywhere around her. With a soft sigh, the witch continued on her way with a more relaxed pace.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The girl stopped short. She felt the blood freeze in her very veins as her eyes widened in horror. She prayed to everything that one could pray to in that moment that the sound was merely an owl tapping on the glass of the window for attention. She looked to the glass, waiting with despair in her eyes and horror in her gut. The silence dragged for what seemed like hours. She willed her feet to move, and they did, but not towards the common room. The witch walked to the window.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The sound rang out again much to her increasing horror. Her breath became shaky as her feet unconsciously carried her to the window. She saw it then. One pale, delicate hand, its fingers perfectly long and poised beautifully against the glass. She didn't even wonder how someone was getting to the window from outside, as they weren't anywhere near the ground. Her eyes were fixed on the long nails of the hand as it pulled back, as if beckoning her forwards. Her feet carried her once more, despite the protests of her mind. However, those urges to go back to the common room vanished soon enough.

The hand raised its pointer finger and delicately, almost gently, dragged the nail down the glass, as if caressing it. A screeching scratch rang out the hallway, making her shiver. Yet, she wasn't afraid anymore. The fear in her had vanished and now all she felt was genuine curiosity. The witch reached for the latch of the window and placed her fingers on it. The hand moved once more, dragging another screech from the glass. The witch felt warmth that she had never known to be possible spread through her, settling in the pit of her stomach. Her fingers moved, wanting to have more of that delicious fire.

The window burst open as soon as she unlocked it and the witch became aware of the cold and the horror once more, her fear returning. There had never been any warmth. However, she didn't have time to even scream of regret her actions.

X

A window stood open in the hallway, the translucent drapes around it danced softly in the wind and moonlight finally shone from the clear skies. A figure walked towards it, touching the sill tenderly before closing it. The drapes stilled and the pale woman stood looking outside with an expressionless face.

"Professor Vasilescu?" One of the prefects called out, gaining the woman's attention. "Is everything alright?" The Professor didn't move for a moment, and then only her eyes did. They fixed on the fifth year.

"Everything is perfectly fine, Miss Owen." The woman spoke, her tone somehow low and slightly frightening. The prefect gave a curt nod and went to continue her rounds.

"Good night, Professor." She bid goodbye as she left the woman to stand as still as a statue. The fifth year could've sworn that the Professor's eyes had glittered yellow for a mere second.

X

"Have you seen Mary?" Jack asked, plopping next to Angelina in Charms. The dark haired girl shook her head and then shrugged.

"Why in the world are you even looking for the girl? She's nothing but trouble, along with those two." The witch gestured to the front row with her head. Sure enough, there sat the Gossiping Duo. It was still hard for Jack to believe that those two girls were in Gryffindor. Well, at least one of them.

Sarah Millard. The she-devil of the first year. The girl had barely begun attending Hogwarts, and she had become integrated into the innermost circle of the castle's gossip. It was somewhere between incredulous and highly bothersome. While she was a force to be reckoned with, as she could spread a thousand lies in the matter of a single day, she was also an annoying fly kind of a person, going about with her constant buzzing. She was worse than the Weasleys in Jack's opinion (not that she thought that bad of them anymore). But, the girl was annoying. She strutted about as if she owned the castle and everyone should simply fall to their knees and worship the ground that she walked on. And, Jack was constantly on her target list (which was still quite a mystery to the young witch).

Jack gave a small snort, wrinkling her nose in distaste. She had given the girl enough chances to last a lifetime. Now, she was attempting to steer clear of her.

"I honestly don't understand why Mary hangs out with Sarah and Elizabeth." Alicia piped up, leaning onto her arms over the back of her chair. "They are so horrible, and Mary is a sweet girl."

Angelina snorted this time, putting her quill away and blowing gently on her paper. She had managed to finish the last few lines before Flitwick arrived. "You sound like an old woman when you speak like that Alicia." The Quidditch nut exclaimed. "Jack, I expect that from. You, not really."

"Hey!" The short witch complained, but neither paid attention to it. It was normal to tease her about her overly grown up ways by now.

"Because I said that they were horrible?" Alicia inquired.

"Because you said that Mary is a sweet girl." Angelina explained, blowing once more on her parchment. "That's what my grandma says to me all the time. You're such a sweet girl, my little Angelina." Her voice became low pitched and crackly as she hunched over, imitating her grandmother. Jack giggled when Alicia cringed.

"Is that the good one or the bad one?" Asked Alicia. Jack shook her head, looking around once more and trying to locate her blonde semi-friend. Angelina had the strangest family ever. Well, maybe not the strangest, as Jack had heard a lot about the Weasleys from Fred and George (mostly George, she had deemed him the nicer twin). But, the Johnsons were still quite a bit different. While her mother's side was pureblood, completely immersed in the wizarding world, Angelina's father had been a muggle-born wizard. His side of the family had been less than thrilled about the magic in their relative, leaving them to behave quite peculiarly towards his wife and child. They had hoped that the little Angelina wouldn't take after her parents, but she had. Now, their families were on a truce, sort of, but still held a bit of animosity towards one another (as one was wizarding and the other not).

"The good one. Do you really think that witch would call me a sweet girl?" Angelina asked with a huff. "She'd prefer something along the lines of Antichrist. Ridiculous muggle religion words." She murmured the last bit, blowing on the parchment once again.

Alicia laughed. "What irony!" She wheezed. "You calling the old hag a witch!" Then she burst into another fit of giggles, Jack and Angelina joining her.

"Good morning, class!" Professor Flitwick climbed onto his stack of books and pillows, attempting to be seen over his desk. "Homework on my desk, please!" The short wizard exclaimed once they chorused a tired sounding 'good morning Professor' back. Jack stood, taking her homework with her.

"Bugger." Angelina cursed suddenly behind her. She had managed to smear the last paragraph of her essay as she folded it. Alicia laughed, causing their friend to give her a glare.

X

It seemed like Charms flew by in a single blink of an eye. All too soon, Professor Flitwick was telling them to practice the wand movement and bidding them a good day. Jack practically flew from one classroom to another, on autopilot. She was vaguely aware of Alicia retelling her 'Twenty (but actually many more) reasons why I adore Cedric Diggory' to Angelina. Honestly, if that was love, than Jack wanted no part of it. It made you scatterbrained and stupid, horribly resembling a confused monkey in heat. Hence, the small witch decided that fancying someone was a real bother.

It wasn't that Jack was clueless about love in the more romantic sense. No, she had seen many movies and read many books. But, she also never had the chance of a firsthand experience with it. Her father was a lone wolf, as one would say, and he preferred various, supermodel-like girlfriends at his arm rather than a steadfast woman to stand beside him at all times. He had one already, after all. Captain Sherwood wasn't much better. He was practically celibate. He didn't date. He didn't go out. He didn't hang out with girls. Jack suspected that that came from some kind of a repressed mother problem, but she never pried. It wasn't her place to ask such questions. In their long years of knowing each other (at least four, she couldn't quite remember), Captain Sherwood had never spoken of his family.

But, back to the point, he wasn't the dating sort. Captain Sherwood often told her that he had had one too many bad experiences with women and that the only ones that he would love these days are Jack herself and Charlotte King, the Keeper of their Quidditch team.

How Jack saw love was very much like an arranged marriage in fact. Find someone who fits into your criteria of a Prince Charming and marry the guy. Then, have children and be happy for the rest of your lives. And, for the love of Merlin, she didn't really see what all the mumbling, hushed whispering and blushing was about. It was a simple thing, love. If only Jack had realized back then, in her first year, that she had barely scratched the surface of the topic of love with her thinking, much would've been different. As love was more than often mingled with grief and sweet lust that Jack couldn't even begin to comprehend back then.

The small witch tapped a smiling Angelina (it was a very strained smile) one her shoulder and gestured to the back of the Transfiguration classroom. She left the other girl to her misery at their friend's hands (the Greatness of Cedric Diggory speech). Jack plopped down as gracefully as possible (so not much really) next to one of the twins and shot him a grin. He was alone, which was a surprise. As far as Jack knew, the twins didn't have arguments. And when they had a small difference of opinion, it was simply solved without any shouting or drama. They were always together, always getting along.

The redhead gave her a sly smirk, but Jack could see the question in it. She hadn't spoken to the troublemakers since her outburst the day before. She had also wacked them with The Dawn Treader quite expertly.

"Why hello there, Miss Knight." Greeted the twin. Possibly George, thought Jack, noticing the absence of Fred's nickname for her. "If I may inquire as to why you are sitting in my brother's seat?"

He was being awfully polite, ergo, he was planning something in the gray area of her moral radar. Jack shook her head, exasperated, not even bothering to answer. She dug through her new pouch bag (the one that Angelina had gotten her for Christmas) and pulled out a middle sized vial full of dark green liquid. She grabbed the boy's hand and he tensed, whirling around to stare at her with wide eyes for a split second. Then, his smirk returned.

"Why, you are most certainly bold today, our ickle Howler." He exclaimed with a wink. Fred, she settled for with a mental groan.

"Don't flatter yourself." Jack bit out with a smile of her own. She had been watching Dragon flirt for ages. The childish attempt of the twin was laughable. "A promise is a promise." She explained, pressing the vial into his hand. The redhead looked surprised and then tried to pull the vial up onto the table. Jack didn't let him, though. She pressed it back down onto his lap. "If they catch you with that, I will admit to nothing." She told the redhead with a stern look.

"Catch me with what?" The twin asked with a smirk. Fred or George, wondered Jack, as it was starting to bug her. He moved his hand out of hers and dropped the vial into the folds of his cloak, making it vanish.

"Ha ha." The small witch laughed dryly. The twin gave her the most innocent look that he could muster, making the girl burst into giggles and then full-blown laughter. "Tha-that was pathetic!" She kept laughing, holding her sides. The redhead was frowning now. He obviously thought that his 'puppy face' was indestructible.

"What do you mean? I think it's just fine!" The boy argued back, making the witch laugh once again.

"You're delusional." She told him, finally managing to catch her breath. "The only one who would believe that is your mother, and that's merely out of pity." Jack explained.

The twin flinched at the mention of his parent. "I'm afraid that my mother is one person that we will never fool, my dear." He told her with a flourish wave of his hand. However, that wicked, teasing smile never once left his face.

Jack shook her head lightly, but she couldn't stop her own grin. The twin was infectious. "Stop being so melodramatic. With a little coaching, you could pull it off just fine." Now, he was looking at her like she had two heads. Or that she had just told him that she was secretly a Hungarian Horntail that was acting as a witch.

"Are you offering to teach me how to lie, Miss Knight?" The boy asked with a doubtful tone. Now, he was leaning back in his chair and looking at her, leisurely turned towards her. Jack shrugged. The wizard started laughing then. "Alright, I'll play. What am I doing that gives me away?"

Jack turned towards him now, preparing to give him a lecture on how to properly lie. She had years of successful practice, after all. She knew the best ways to decide which tactic to use when.

"Well-" She began, preparing to give him a long speech with her I-am-teaching-now voice (the tone that she usually used when dragons were the topic of the conversation).

"Take your seats, class." Professor McGonagall entered, slamming the door of the classroom and successfully quieting all conversation immediately. The redheaded twin gave Jack a nod, signaling that they were not done with the topic. Surprised, as the two usually didn't stop talking despite the presence of the Professor, Jack turned to the front, opening her bookmarked A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch. Then again, McGonagall didn't look to happy. Jack figured that it was better not to provoke the woman.

The door of the classroom opened and in entered the other twin. He grinned sheepishly, as if he were late for supper, and not class. Professor McGonagall shot him a glare, and not one of those milder ones. This was a glare that would freeze the bravest in their tracks. But, the Weasley twin remained smiling.

"Good day, Professor!" The young wizard greeted, as if oblivious to the incoming doom. McGonagall sat down into her chair, releasing him from her glare-lock. With a grin, the twin headed for his brother and his unexpected seatmate.

Jack felt her jaw drop. McGonagall was letting it go?! She couldn't believe it! The twins high-fived each other soundlessly as the, recently dismissed, Weasley sat down with a proud grin in the seat in front of them. Jack threw an incredulous look to Angelina and Alicia across the classroom, causing the former to roll her eyes. She retaliated with a 'Why are you even sitting next to him' look to which Jack rolled her eyes and soundlessly whispered 'long story'. Angelina shrugged and then mouthed 'later', before turning to the board. Luckily, McGonagall was still furiously writing something at her desk.

"Mr. Weasley." The Professor spoke, causing the twins to perk up and look at her. "Seeing as the rest of your week is busy and so is the next one, I will simply mark your detention for Monday and Tuesday the week after that." The stern witch spoke without looking up. The twin in the front groaned, sinking down in his seat. Jack couldn't help but giggle. Serves him right.

"My condolences." Mumbled the redhead next to the witch with a grin, causing his brother to grumble something into his own chin. Jack put her hand to her mouth to stop her laughter now.

"Oh, and-" McGonagall suddenly took out her wand and waved it at the, now miserable, twin. He jerked a bit in surprise, and inspected himself for any changes. There was a small black dot at the inside of his wrist. It looked like an ink drop. The wizard raised it to his eye level with growing curiosity. "-don't even think about switching with your brother." In horror, the Weasley began rubbing the dot, trying to get it off of his skin. It didn't even smear. "I will remove it once you serve out your detention." With a groan, the redhead sank below desk level in his chair, letting go of his reddening wrist.

Now, Jack though as McGonagall started her lecture, there was only one question: Which twin had the dot?

X

By the end of Charms (which seemed to drag on forever) Jack was calling one twin Dot and the other Dotless in her mind. She simply couldn't help herself. She had also decided that she would never sit next to the twins in class, too. Detention aside, they kept pulling all of McGonagall's patience, as if testing to see when she would burst. It had been a worthy lesson.

Though, the fact that you could finally tell the Weasley twins apart spread like wildfire through the school. By next week, Jack wasn't the only one calling them something along the lines of Dot and Dotless. Not to their face, of course. If you were careless enough to say something like that in front of them (or if they somehow overheard you) you were most definitely in for a Weasley revenge. And Weasley revenge was not something to trifle with.

It turned out that the two could actually do some mischief without getting caught if they were careful enough. Not that anyone was doubting where the spells and jinxes came from. But, without proof, there was no detention. And, Fred and George had obviously decided that they didn't want anymore detention that month (they had it booked weeks in advance, after all). Jack and Alicia overheard Dot telling Lee how they didn't really care about getting punished, merely, it was getting troublesome for Charlie to keep McGonagall from writing to their mother.

But, that wasn't the only news at Hogwarts. Apparently, Sarah Millard, the half of the infamous Gossip Duo, and Mary Goldwood, the sweet, but shy Gryffindor, were having a fight. Well, it was more of a one sided gossip war, which wasn't pretty at all. Alicia had told Angelina and Jack some of the rumors that she had heard, and it made the latter glad that she wasn't a priority on Sarah's target list anymore. The witch was simply vile.

"Look at her!" Giggles rang down the corridor.

"Ugly." Someone threw, causing the blonde girl's shoulders to shake. Her head was down, as it was most days.

"She should know better."

"I agree." The most popular story as to why the two were fighting was because Mary had stolen Sarah's lad. Something about her wooing an older boy from Ravenclaw.

"Ridiculous." Commented Angelina, furiously writing her Potions homework. Snape had been as merciless as usual. "Sure, she's pretty, but she doesn't speak at all!" The three friends were sitting in the Study Hall, finishing their work in the late Sunday afternoon when Mary ran out, head held low.

Alicia nodded along. "She does speak sometimes, though. But only a bit. I have never had a full conversation with her. She seems to agree with everything I say." The witch remarked, doodling on her Charms book. She only had to read a couple more pages and she would be done with all her work for the next week.

"Me neither." Angelina agreed, pausing. She looked up and across the table at Jack. Actually, she looked at the place where their friend should've been. "Jack?"

"Here!" The small witch jumped up, emerging from the pile of books only when she stood (Alicia giggled, as she imagined Jack following in Flitwick's footsteps). There was a telltale smear of ink on the girl's cheek. She had dozed off on her homework. "Is it Monday already?" Jack wondered sleepily.

"No, silly." Alicia replied. "You have six or so more hours to go." Jack nodded absentmindedly, lowering herself onto the bench. She was buried in homework. And, she still needed to finish her Dragon Sanctuary application. Charlie had already sent his after the two had gone over it.

"Good." Replied the short witch. "Good..." And then promptly dropped her head back down onto her paper. Alicia burst out laughing, but it didn't wake their friend. However, it did make Madam Pince shush them.

"Oh, Merlin!" Alicia exclaimed once she calmed down. "I can't watch this disaster anymore." And then she stretched over the table and pulled out Jack's essay from beneath her head. The last sentence was smudged, but, otherwise it was quite readable (as Jack had a rather messy and small lettered scrawl). "I'll just tweak it a bit." And then Alicia began working on her friend's homework under Angelina's disapproving stare.

X

When Jack woke, she was alone in the Study Hall. Stretching (much like a cat, even though she would never admit to that, she wanted to be a dragon!) the witch began packing up her things. She smiled at her finished Potions essay and promised herself that she would thank Alicia. After packing, she also noticed that Angelina had left her her A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration. She would need to thank her, also. Angelina had a habit of underlining the important things as she read through her book. That would help Jack a great deal, as she wasn't all that good (quite horrible actually) at Transfiguration.

The corridor was still lit up, so Jack figured that she hadn't broken the curfew yet. Stumbling (almost crashing into) on a couple of older Ravenclaws (she couldn't really tell their year) Jack apologized and headed towards the Gryffindor common room. She knew that she still had work to do, but it would be much easier to do it in the comfortable chair in front of the fireplace. That was definitely one of the best seats of the common room, and for that, it was almost always taken. Praying that her luck hadn't abandoned her, Jack grinned. Just a little more. After she finished her Transfiguration essay, she would be able to complete her application for the Sanctuary. Monday was the deadline, after all.

A sniff was heard causing Jack to whip her head around and look for the person causing the noise. Sure enough, there was a blonde girl sitting on the stone bench and looking completely miserable. She had her head in her hands and seemed to be crying her eyes out. With a frown, Jack headed towards her slowly, all thoughts of the comfortable red and golden chair leaving her mind.

"Mary?" The smaller of the two asked tenderly, catching the girl's attention successfully. Mary stiffened, but didn't react otherwise. Jack stood there for a moment, feeling nervous, before she dropped her leather bag and books onto the bench and knelt down at Mary's feet. She placed her hands onto the other girl's knees softly and rubbed them. "What's wrong?" Mary didn't answer for a while.

"Sarah hates me." She croaked then, sounding miserable. Jack frowned, her nose scrunching up. She didn't like Sarah. In fact, she didn't understand why Mary liked Sarah. Sarah wasn't the most pleasant of people.

"I'm sure that's not the truth. She's your friend, is she not?" Jack tried to unravel the terrible mess of yarn that was this problem. She wasn't equipped for this. Alicia or even Angelina would've done a much better job, she was certain. However, they weren't there, so, she would have to do her best.

The weeping girl nodded, her shoulders shaking, and then began sobbing even harder. Jack winced, but continued rubbing the knees affectionately. No, she couldn't do this. Abort mission! Regroup! It would have to be an honorable retreat on her part. Then, Mary suddenly threw herself onto the floor, too, grasping Jack in a hug.

"I don't- hic- even know what I-hic - did wrong!" The young witch wept. "One day we were friends- hic and the other- hic, she hates me!" Mary was clinging onto her for dear life then, but her words had sent Jack's mind spinning (even away from the fact that they were now sitting on the dirty floor). Mary had vanished! For three whole days, Mary had vanished completely! And, she didn't remember that she had! Just like Dorothea Bennett, from Ravenclaw and Kenneth Towler, the Gryffindor from the twins' dorm. Obviously, Sarah was jealous about the number of people that had come to seek Mary out during her brief absence. Heck, Jack had been one of them. Everything suddenly clicked into place except two things: Where had Mary been all that time and what did she remember?

"Why look!" A familiar voice almost drew a groan from Jack. Mary began sobbing even more uncontrollably in her arms. Sarah Millard and her constant group of giggling gossipers had come upon them. "Two trolls have finally found their perfect friend in each other!" She laughed, the sound ringing down the corridor loudly. Jack glared as the group agreed and slowly rose to her feet, pulling Mary along with her.

"I agree!"

"Both are ugly!"

Jack was only partially aware of her actions as the familiar scorching ice-fire ran through her veins. She grasped her cherry wood wand with one hand (the other arm still in Mary's death grip) and whipped it out in a flash. The incantation was fresh in her mind and she waved the magical item almost like a lasso above her head in anger. Sarah's face was the last thing that she saw. First, it was shocked, then angered and then, relaxed as the girl fell back, along with her friends, as a result of Jack's spell. The short witch felt the Sleeping Spell take its toll on her, too, as she had obviously made it too strong in her anger (or simply because it was meant to force a dragon into sleep), and then her limbs became numb and relaxed.

The last thought that ran through Jack's mind as she and Mary fell onto the floor asleep was that she still hadn't finished her homework.

**That's all folks!**

**Note: I know that the Sleeping Spell is quite an advanced one (Fleur does during the Triwizard Tournament), but, Jack is actually quite average (if not below average) in everything except things that concern dragons. This is one of such things :)**

**Onto the reviews:**

**HenriaSownbinder: I realized that I was focusing on Jack a bit too much, so I figured a bit of Fred, Alicia and now Mary was in order :D**

**The twins are simply the twins xD They can't help themselves and not prank people… And poor Jack is trying to fight back :P**

**Until next time!**

**ArmyWife22079: I will say nothing! Hahahha xD You'll see :) Vasilescu is a bit of a mystery… we'll see :)**

**Chocolatecheesecakes: Hahaha xD Well, I'm not sure if its influence… More like I had loads of ideas but never went so far as to put them into writing xD Seeing your stuff pushed me to get a new story out :D**

**Narnia is amazing :) I remember reading the books when I was little and then re-reading them after the movies came out. I'm not sure which Caspian I prefer, movie (because let's face it, Ben Barnes!) or the one from the books (who is more of a boy then a man). Still, my favorites are Lucy and Edmund, but I can't help and love Caspian as well :D I think that Jack sees Caspian as someone who is very brave, to leave the shadow of his father's and uncle's rule and become his own person, and thus, she wants to be like him :)**

**I adore LOTR.. Hobbit is the first book that I ever read, actually, and my mom almost named me Eowyn. That says something about our love for the fandom xD Though, the Hobbit movies were a little more than a little disappointing in my opinion. The movie should've been a trilogy in my opinion, not enough material for it… Smaug is quite impressive, though :D**

**Jack has just entered the awkwardness of romance xD I can't wait to write everything out :D**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Emma Hynes: I'm sorry that you were late :P I will accept responsibility for it :D **

**Charlie is a little darling :) He's as obsessed with dragons as Jack is :P I can't wait until that escalates xD **

**Freddie4153: I shall my friend!**

**Crystalnurani: I'm glad that you understand my fandom hopping and slow writing thing xD I have a couple of active stories and it seems that people are constantly disappointed because I don't update quickly T_T **

**Yeah, when I created Jack, I had already read Narnia (quite a few times in fact) and I absolutely loved Lucy (and Edmund and Caspian and omg, all of them!) I suppose that Lucy influenced me without me seeing it :) Only when I was watching the movies again did I notice the resemblance and decided to put it out there :P**

**I have no idea what's going to happen after their first two years… I'll see what I'll do about it when I get there, I suppose… I have this document where I put my ideas for each year xD There's almost three pages of once sentence scenes :D I'm going to try and develop not only Jack, but all the other characters as well :) I'm in for the long run...**

**Hope you enjoyed!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Welcome ladies and gents!**

**I would like to thank:**

**For the favs: MalfoyTwin, MonMonMuffin2714, Galyardt, Applejax XD, shairahtaylor72, 01blackblind and DreamerJess! **

**For the alerts: Ai-Rose4 , MalfoyTwin, MonMonMuffin2714, Applejax XD, Cammie-the-chameleon, shairahtaylor72 , Amis55, Oreleth and DreamerJess!**

**And for the reviews: Emma and Henria! You two are with the story from the start, thank you so much :D**

**Enjoy!**

**Blue Swede – Hooked On A Feeling (recorded by them in 1974)**

Jack slowly came to. She was nicely warm and somehow, floating. Her mind was fuzzy and she felt quite content to keep sleeping and not wake up. That was rather unusual for her, though. Usually, she got up easily and quite early. Sure, she liked her sleep as much as the next person. Except Captain Sherwood, he loved his sleep a bit too much in Jack's opinion.

So, Jack settled for not opening her eyes, despite her better judgment, and snuggled deeper into the warmth. She took a deep breath, noting the scent of plants, fresh sheets and something that she couldn't identify. She wasn't in her dorm, that was for sure. Jack's eyes flew open and she sat up with a start. Her pale eyes were wide open and they darted around, taking in her surroundings. She tried to remember why she hadn't been sleeping in her own bed.

Right. She remembered now.

Jack slumped back down onto her comfortable pillows. The room was long and wide, filled with freshly dressed beds and plain paravans that separated them. It was dimly lit, obviously in the middle of the night. Jack could see a strong, white, wooden desk at the end of the room and many shelves full of multicolored vials. There was also a door beyond that desk, which was to her right. To her left was a bigger, round door, made of dark colored oak. She knew that there were tall windows behind her, the glass decorated with colorful pictures of famous witches, wizards and spells. Jack was quite familiar with this room.

She could remember casting the spell now. Yes, the Sleeping Spell. She had read about them in one of her dragon books. They were one of the safer ways to calm the creature. The spell was supposed to put them into sleep or make them woozy enough to stop their rage. Obviously, she had used it in a wrong way. Maybe that's because she had just read the instructions on theoretical use of the spell? No matter, if she was awake, that probably meant that everyone else would wake as well.

Jack raised her head looked about once more, feeling her neck pinch in an uncomfortable way. She was alone in the Hospital Wing. Well, she had thought that she would've been the first to wake, and not the last. With a frown that made her nose scrunch up Jack pushed herself up and wriggled out of the sheets and off of the bed. The stone floor was icy against her bare feet, making her mind flash back to the Christmas holiday mornings at her house when she would wake alone in the cold.

Jack wrapped her arms around her and headed towards the larger door, ignoring the fact that she was in her nightgown. The small witch placed hands on the bronze knob and pushed. There was eerie silence for a moment before Jack felt something brushing against her feet. She looked down and, quite embarrassingly shrieked, slamming the oak door.

Icy black smoke was curling around the stones and under the door. It was reaching for her feet, making the cold floor even more uncomfortable. She felt her toes go numb and fled backwards. The smoke followed. It was leaking under the door, flowing into the Hospital Wing. Jack shrieked once more when it headed for her and ran to her bed. Her mind was suddenly filled with all the horror stories that she had read. Alone with black smoke in a room meant trouble.

She looked at the nightstand beside her bed where Madam Pomfrey usually put their clothes and wand. Jack threw the drawers open in her panic, her fingers shaking. She needed to grasp the top one three times before she managed to open it. Her wand wasn't there. She tossed a look over her shoulder, blood going cold in her veins at the sight of even more smoke. She was shaking now. She knew the covers off of her bed and tossed the pillows, searching for her wand. She needed a weapon. She needed her protection against this darkness. She felt like if she didn't save herself from it, she would fall into a frozen sleep and never wake up.

Panic like Jack had never felt before gripped her and she stopped still for a second. Her wand wasn't there. Madam Pomfrey's office. Throwing another look at the spreading black smoke and calculating her time as quickly as possible. The small witch jumped off her bed and onto the icy floor and ran all the way down the long room. She slammed against the white door before grabbing the handle and pulling. It didn't budge. She then pushed. Nothing.

Jack threw another look behind her and gasped in horror. The smoke was spreading. It had filled almost half of the room by then. With an anguished cry, Jack slammed herself against the door forcefully, hoping that it would break or something. Then, realizing that nothing was happening she slid down the door and onto the floor in despair.

"Open, dammit!" Jack finally found her voice, angry at the way it broke when she yelled out. The small girl slammed her cold fist against the door next. "Open!" Her forehead banged against it. "Open…" She whispered, tears freely streaming down her cheeks and onto her lap.

Something was whispering behind her, calling, screeching, but Jack didn't turn. She was numb. Her hand hurt terribly. Her forehead ached, too. Her feet were cold and her toes and fingers were frozen. She was shaking. She was terrified, numb from fear and exhausted somehow. She had given up.

Then, a fire ignited. Jack hiccupped and pushed herself shakily up. She was not about to freeze to death alone, in the Hospital Wing by black smoke. No, Jaqueline Knight wasn't going to fall there. She was a dragon. She was going to fight. She was going to bloody fight until the end. And, if she didn't make it, she would be proud to go fighting. She would be like a dragon. She would be like Jeanne D'Arc. She wasn't the dumb girl that got killed in the horror book first. She was a Gryffindor witch.

With a savage cry Jack ran towards the bed and jumped on it. The black smoke followed, making her lose feeling in her legs, but Jack roared like a true dragon. She clambered onto the window still and tried to pry the lids open. Nothing. The witch turned, her brain suddenly free of the usual haze. She jumped onto the white desk next and took the chair from under it. The black smoke whirled around her hands, but she was too quick for the, somehow heavy, darkness. She whirled the small chair at the window, smashing it open.

Glass flew everywhere, sinking into the black smoke and raining outside. Jack felt fear grip her as she clambered back onto the, now open, window still. True, the Hospital Wing was on the first floor, but it was still a bit high. She tossed a look behind her and saw the smoke filling the room. It had risen enough to sink the beds under the blackness.

Another bout of fear gripped Jack and she decided in a flash. Her frozen and numb legs pushed off the ledge and she was flying for one second. For one, lovely second, she was weightless. And then, with a loud shout, Jack headed straight down, luckily, feet-first, towards the grass. But, she never felt the ground.

"Miss Knight!" A voice sounded, causing Jack to shoot up. "Wake up, girl!" She was panting, wildly looking about and searching for the black smoke and for the ground that was supposed to be quickly coming towards her. But, it seemed like it had all been an illusion, a dream. She was back in her bed in the Hospital Wing, the room was completely lit up, unlike when she had previously awoken. "It was just a dream, Miss Knight. Just a bad dream." Madam Pomfrey was there above her, holding onto the gasping girl.

"D-dream?" Jack asked, her voice breaking. The room was warm, almost hot, and she was supposed to be toasty under the covers, but instead, she was frozen. She was covered with cold sweat.

"Yes, dear girl. Here, drink this. Slowly." Madam Pomfrey pressed a glass to her lips and Jack drank. "You were screaming, Miss Knight. Almost woke up my whole Wing." Jack looked around the room, seeing all the sleeping patients, still breathing a bit fast. Her heart was thumping in her ears loudly. She was so sure that she had jumped through the window.

"Are they alright?" The small witch asked, now trembling. The reality that she had done that to her friend and housemates was hitting her hard, despite her shaken state.

"They will be." Madam Pomfrey told her, shaking her head disapprovingly. "That was quite a spell, Miss Knight. Did you see the caster?" It took a moment for Jack to receive the information. They didn't know that it was her that cast the spell. Tough, that wouldn't last long. As soon as Sarah Millard woke up, Jack was toast.

"I don't remember." The small witch mumbled into her chin halfheartedly. She didn't feel right about lying, but she also didn't want to get into trouble if it wasn't necessary. This gave her a way out, in case nobody remembered who cast the spell.

Madam Pomfrey touched her forehead and Jack felt something golden and warm spread through her from her temple, warming her up from the cold, black smoke. "It's alright, dear girl. That sometimes happens." The nurse's voice was gentle, soothing Jack's shaken state. Then, she pulled away and straightened, regaining her stern expression. "Now, you rest some more, Miss Knight."

"What day is it, Madam?" The small witch managed to ask before the nurse left, catching her attention.

"Fifth of February, Monday, 1 o'clock in the morning." The woman told her. "Now, sleep!" The nurse left, heading for the white door at the end of the room. Jack raised her head, seeing the way Madam Pomfrey kept it slightly open and then sighed with relief, falling back down onto her pillows. The soft scent of plants and clean sheets wafted her nose and Jack smiled. She was safe. There was no black smoke here. There was no icy sleep. She wouldn't need to jump out of any windows.

The small witch looked to her nightstand and saw her wand. With a lightning-fast move, she grabbed it and smuggled it under her blankets. Then, Jack closed her eyes and felt the warmth of the room and Madam Pomfrey's touch return heat to her body. Slowly, she drifted off into sleep.

Her application for the Dragon Sanctuary still wasn't done, and neither was her homework.

X

The next time that Jack shot up in bed was a few hours later. She woke up, slightly disoriented, but didn't have that moment of warmth and floating like she had had the last time. Sure, she felt toasty and safe, but not like she needed to keep sleeping. Opening her eyes, the young witch identified the orange-lit room easily. She saw the white door to her right slightly creaked open and she saw her fellow first years in other beds, sleeping. It was welcoming, safe, however, Jack felt some urge grip at her. She needed to go somewhere.

The short girl slowly pushed herself up, noticing that she still had her wand in her hand. The cool air hit her, making her shiver a bit, since she was wearing only her nightgown. But, it wasn't as cold as it had been in her dream. This time, she wasn't covered in cold sweat and she was much more clearheaded. With a glance around the room, the girl pushed herself up and off the bed. Everyone else was still sleeping and Madam Pomfrey was in her office. She was safe to sneak out.

The stone floor was strangely warm against her feet, making Jack smile. Of course, this was the Hospital Wing. The nurse had made sure that her little patients would have everything, including a floor warming charm. The young girl opened the drawers on her nightstand, never letting go of her wand. There, she found her uniform and robes, freshly washed. She quickly changed, placing her cherry wood wand gingerly on the nightstand for mere seconds. Her head was reeling. She needed to talk to someone. She needed an opinion. Maybe even go to the library. Perhaps she had read too many horror stories and her mind was connecting useless information and making her paranoid, but her father always said 'better safe than sorry, midget'. She wasn't going to be sorry.

The small witch hastily folded the nightgown and placed it on her pillow. Then, she rearranged the blankets (leaving quite a few crinkles despite her effort), as if she could somehow repent for deceiving the gentle nurse with that simple action. A tapping sound coming from the window caught her attention, making cold fear grip her once more. Jack whirled around, only to see Aras sitting on the still and glaring at her. A smile split on her face, despite her nervousness. She creaked the window open just enough for the owl to pass.

"Hello, love." Jack whispered to him once he entered. Before he could hoot or screech, she put her finger to her lips, telling him to be quiet. Owls weren't really allowed here, nor in most places at the castle. They would disturb the peace (or patients). The young witch grabbed her father's old, leather, bag and the extra books and motioned for Aras to get onto her forearm. The owl gave her what she was pretty sure was an incredulous look and began climbing up her forearm and towards her shoulder. Once he got there, he towered over her head, as usual, spreading his wings a bit to get settled into a better position as Jack moved. She welcomed the warmth of his feathered body. It almost seemed like he could sense her distress and snuggled slightly into her neck, despite his anger at her absence in the Owlery.

The small witch stood still for a second, debating. To sneak out of the Hospital Wing without telling anyone anything and find someone to bounce her ideas with. Or, she could check out with Madam Pomfrey and then go find someone to bounce her ideas with. The first seemed better for her, but the second idea gave her less of that nasty feeling in her stomach, the one that she often carried when she did something wrong.

With a small sigh, Jack walked down the length of the room and rapped her knuckles against the white door softly. After a silent 'come in' that sounded a tad absent minded, the witch entered. It was a small room, filled with vials, books and papers on shelves that covered all the walls. There was a stone fireplace on the left with a cauldron above it. Jack pushed herself to her toes to be able to see the small amount of potion inside. It was a sickly yellow color, almost orange. She cringed, looking away. The room was welcoming, despite the nasty potion.

Madam Pomfrey was sitting at her desk, also in white wood. It was quite similar to the one in the larger room. There was a lantern on the desk, lighting up the whole room with orange and yellow light. She was writing something in a large book. The small witch walked further in, stopping only when she got to the desk. She waited for the nurse to look up patiently.

After a few moments, she did. "Miss Knight." The witch peered over her glasses, not raising her head fully. "How may I help you?" The nurse put her quill into a holder and straightened up in her chair, taking off her glasses and leaving them on the table. She was looking at Jack a little sternly now, as if she disapproved of the fact that the girl was out of bed (and the fact that her owl was on her shoulder). She probably did (of both).

"I was wondering if I may leave now, Madam Pomfrey?" The small witch asked politely, putting on her full-force puppy face. "I find that I'm quite well rested and I have a lot of work to catch up on, Madam."

The nurse stared at her for a while, as if assessing the situation. Then, she sighed, putting her reading glasses back on. "Of course, Miss Knight. You are free to leave." Jack brightened up, but didn't let it show on her face until she turned around. "Miss Knight." Madam Pomfrey called out making the small witch turn with a poker face back on. "If you feel sleepy at all or woozy, come to me immediately." There was a moment of silence. "Is that understood?"

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey." Jack replied, giving her a nod. "Thank you very much." And then, she was free. The first year gingerly pushed the white door, making sure to leave it creaked, allowing a stream of orange light into the dimly lit Hospital Wing. Then, she hurried out of the long room.

"My pretty bird." She whispered to the owl as soon as they were clear. "I'm sorry I didn't visit you today." He hooted soothingly, almost quietly. Jack headed for the common room. She tossed a look out the window and saw that it was light outside, probably early morning. She recalled her schedule for the day: Potions and DADA, in that order. She was glad that Alicia had done her Potions homework for her. She would need to make it up to the girl.

Jack changed directions. She headed for the library instead of the common room. The small witch stopped for a moment, the heat from her owl and the weight and warmth of him on her shoulder reminding her of Madam Pince's rules. No animals in the library. Yes, as much as they were frowned upon in the other areas of the castle, they were actually thrown out of the library and the Study Hall which the stern which managed. Jack was screwed.

Thinking fast, she unloaded all of her books onto one of the stone benches next to the wall and then opened the leather bag as far as it could go. "I'm sorry Aitvaras, please?" The bird gave a grumbled hoot of displeasure. "I promise that it won't be for long. Just until we get to the back of the library." The owl hooted once more, obviously not happy about his new traveling arrangements. First, the overly small cage, and now, a leather bag. Jack closed the flap over the head of her large owl slowly, not locking it into place. She gathered all of her books from the bench into her arms.

The small witch then snuck into the library, Madam Pince giving her the evil eye, as always. She gave a kind smile to the woman, trying to ease the uncomfortable feeling of fear in her stomach. If Madam Pince found Aras, Jack was dead. She would be banned from both the library and the Study Hall. Jack cringed at the thought. All those dragon books, right there, but unreachable.

She hurried towards the back of the library, going all the way into the dragon section, the one that she knew the best. There, she unloaded her books onto 'her' table. Yes, Jack was a frequent one at the library (and not for studying purposes). That didn't really get her anywhere with Madam Pince, as the woman seemed to hate every single student that walked the halls of Hogwarts equally. Well, maybe she reserved some special hate for the more troublesome of the Slytherins and Fred and George. The twins had decided that the library was the most perfect place to practice their Charms homework, suspending different books into the air and making them fly about. Two words: Detention and monthly ban. Alright, maybe three words.

The table that Jack used was made of dark wood and round, lit by a lantern with a green top. The small witch had always liked that lamp. It gave a soft yellow and orange light in the dark corner on the table level, yet, it glowed a gentle emerald on top. Grinning, Jack placed her leather bag onto the surface and allowed Aras out. Before he could hoot, she put her finger to her mouth, telling him to be quiet. Aras ruffled his wings as he settled down onto the table, annoyed. However, the intelligent owl didn't make a sound. Jack smiled even wider, patting him where he enjoyed it the most, along the length of his neck the then wings. He gave her a disapproving look, almost like he knew that she was trying to bribe him.

The young witch lowered him onto one of the seats and headed towards the many rows and rows of books next, leaving Aras to settle comfortably onto the soft, cushioned chair. That way he would be safely out of sight of Madam Pince. But, Aras wasn't the first thing on her mind then. Something entirely different was. With a scrunched up nose, she tried to connect the dots in her mind as she read different titles in the Mythical Creatures section.

First, there was the vanishing. People would vanish for two or three days, returning with their memory of the disappearance gone. They would act completely normal after them, continuing about their usual day schedules. They would appear to be fine, but Jack had watched both Dorothea and Mary closely, seeing the difference of before and after (more in the latter, as she had only known the shy Ravenclaw by name before). The blonde witch had been quieter than normal, and paler. Jack had seen her pause and head for the bathroom to drink water often. She seemed to sway on her feet sometimes, too.

Next, there was the screeching. At night, there would be deathly silence everywhere. No birds, no wind, nothing. There would be complete silence. And then, in the deadness of the sound, a loud, blood-freezing screech would ring down the hallways, appearing to chase the students that were out late. Jack remembered her first time hearing it with the twins and making it their promise. That, unfortunately, hasn't been the only time that she had experienced that terror. Well, if there was something coming after her, she wasn't going to cower in a corner. No, she was going to find out what it is and fight it with all her might. Her wand hummed in her sock at the fire in her stomach.

Then, there was the dream. The black smoke that had chased her in her night terror. It had been petrifying. So cold, chasing her, calling out to her. She knew, that if that had been real, if the dream hadn't been simply an illusion, and she had stayed in her bed or in front of the door in her misery, she would've been dead. She would've been frozen by that black smoke. She didn't know how, but she knew that it was evil. She could feel the unease in her stomach, the way it dropped, as if she had lost her footing, as soon as the black fog had touched her. It had been completely terrifying. Jack had never felt something like that. Not even when she had gotten lost as a young child in the middle of nowhere.

Jack forcefully pushed the feeling away. She could still feel some of Aras's warmth on her shoulder and on her hands where she had patted him. It comforted her. Aitvaras comforted her. Now, what did all of these dots make? The girl wondered. There had to be something, right? Acromantula, Ashwinder, Augurey, Bandicoot, Basilisk, Bat, Bicorn, Billywig, Blast-Ended Skrewt… She read through the names of the creatures, scrunching her nose up even further. The further she went, the fewer creatures actually fit. She grabbed one of the books about Fae and put it on top of her tomes about Spectres. She was in for a long morning.

Jack walked back to the table, placing all the books there and sat down in a comfortable chair, careful not to sit on Aras. She had forgotten that he had been on the seat once and he had bit her behind so hard that even thinking about it hurt. With a chuckle, she opened the first book about Pixies and began reading. The illusions were one of the things that the creatures did. However, she wasn't sure where the rest fit. They were famous for their pranks, deceiving, etc. Who knew, maybe there was simply an outbreak of mad Pixies about scaring her into survival mode?

After a couple of hours, Jack sighed, rubbing her forehead. Someone rounded the corner of the row of bookshelves, causing her to glance at Aras. However, the owl had settled down and seemingly fallen asleep on the cushion. The young witch looked up next, seeing her friends face. Angelina was frowning a bit.

"We went to the Hospital Wing, but you were already gone." The other first year whispered, lowering herself into the chair across from Jack. The short haired girl nodded.

"Sorry." She whispered back. "I wanted to go to look something up." Jack whispered. Angelina's frown deepened.

"Look up?"

"Where's Alicia?" Jack evaded the question. She didn't want another fight with her friend. Surely, Angelina would think her crazy if she told her everything. Hell, even Jack wouldn't believe it if she hadn't lived it. She was still pushing away the thought that she might actually be going insane.

Angelina seemed to let it go, though. "She went ahead to get breakfast. I decided to find you first." The witch peered at the titles of her friend's reading material. "The Wonderful Mysteries of Fae by Simeon G. Rivers?" Angelina picked up the large tome, turning it in her hands. "What do you need this for?" Jack sighed, lowering her book. Well, she wasn't going to lie to her friend. No, that wasn't good. You don't lie to your friends. So, she told Angelina everything.

The dark haired witch sat there, staring at Jack for a while in silence. Then, she spoke. "Are you insane?" The Quidditch fan whispered loudly. "Hogwarts is safe! You're just imagining things!" Jack thanked Gods that Angelina still had the sense to whisper-shout, because Madam Pince would kill her if she found Aras. However, her heart did plummet down at her friend's lack of belief in her words.

"I'm not imagining it, Ange! I promise! The black smoke was as real as you and me!" Jack fired back, not backing down this time. She was usually the one that accommodated. With Angelina's fiery personality and Alicia's outgoing one, Jack preferred to keep quiet and let them talk. She was always ready to put her opinions and needs second, so that she would stay friends with the two. So that they wouldn't fight. However, this time, she wasn't going to. She wasn't crazy.

Angelina frowned, lowering the book onto the table and slowly standing up. "I don't know what's gotten into you, Jack. I thought that you were more sensible than this! This is insane! There is no monster in the castle!" The first year spoke, her voice rising with her temper. Jack now frowned, too, her nose scrunching up in anger.

"I'm not crazy!" The shorter of the two fired back with anger, forgetting to lower her voice. "I know what I saw! Besides, you weren't telling me that I was imagining the screeching in the hallways when you were running away from it with me! If it was real back then, why isn't it real now?"

Angelina slammed her palm flat on the table. "This is different! You're connecting some stupid coincidences to attract attention to yourself! That's what you want, right?! Attention?! So nobody would call you Dragon's daughter?! And that's why you gave yourself that stupid male nickname, so you wouldn't be Jaqueline Knight, famous Dragon's bastard!"

Jack froze for a moment, letting the words sink in. She felt her eyes water, but forced the tears back. She could see regret flash through Angelina's eyes. She hadn't meant to say that. She hadn't meant to repeat Sarah Millard's cruel rumors into Jack's face. She had spoken in anger. Yet, it hurt her. It hurt Jack terribly.

"My birth and reputation has nothing to do with this." Jack slowly spoke, calm full of pain washing over her. "I believe that there are no such things as coincidences." Next, the witch straightened, not looking at Angelina as she gathered her bag and piled the books in. Angelina stayed silent. She, too, knew that she had crossed the line.

"Jack, I-" The Quidditch lover spoke, her voice full of guilt. However, Jack had been overcome with her fiery rage. Not the red kind that burned everything in its path. No, it was the icy fire kind. "I didn't mean that." Angelina spoke once more, voice breaking.

"I'm not crazy." Jack told her, finally looking up, her eyes full of tears. "I promise." Angelina walked forward, around the table and enveloped the smaller witch into a hug. Jack hugged back, finally crying, her rage gone, replaced by a new feeling. She didn't know this. This was new. And she hated every second of feeling it.

"I know. I'm sorry." Angelina told her. "It just came out. Bloody word vomit." Jack laughed through her tears into her shoulder, causing her friend to laugh as well.

"It doesn't matter." Jack replied. "Please don't hate me, Ange. Please don't." The smaller of the two whispered, her friend barely hearing her. Then, a cough came from somewhere behind them. The two witches turned to see Madam Pince with a glare fixed on them. Ah, they had been rather loud in their argument.

"This is a silent reading area." The older witch spoke. "Do you understand what that means?" The two nodded, suddenly finding the floor quite fascinating. "I will not have my library become a kindergarten." Then, she spotted something moving on the chair behind the two girls and her eyes widened with anger. "Out!"

Jack and Angelina giggled all the way to breakfast, Aras flying out the first window, deciding never to go back to that retched silent place, with the horrible, loud witch.

**That's all folks!**

**Sorry for the delay, I actually had this written a while back, but really wasn't sure if it was IC or if it was too early to do all this, but I decided to keep the chapter in the end XD**

**Anyways, I've been pretty busy with my college and the NGO that I work at, sorry :( The next chapter will also be a bit of a slow update…**

**Anyways, why is Jack reacting so well with her black smoke encounter? It's an illusion. She is battling it with her mind, and thus, can actually react the way she wants to. Besides, after reading fair amount of horror (she is a bit strange with her love of gore), Jack tends to be on the paranoid side a tad. Not to mention that she really wants an adventure like her favorite characters from the books! She might be overreaching with her suspicion, but, we'll see.**

**Angelina is adamant about her ways, as well. Her parents went to Hogwarts, and a whole part of her extended family did as well. She grew up learning that Hogwarts was the safest place in the world. With Jack trying to tell her that something is 'out to get them' Angelina simply chooses to ignore it, refuses to believe it. After all, her parents were there from the beginning and Jack she had met that year.**

**As for my description of the Hospital Wing, this is how I imagined it as I read about it, it's not from pottermore or from the movies, sorry, hence a tad AU**

**Also, some of the books that I list with titles and authors are AU as well, as they aren't mentioned. I tried to keep to the names and description of creatures from J.K Rowling's work, but some things will be based off of Wikipedia and folk stories that I find or hear.**

**That's it from me!**

**Emma: Yes, I've gone to the nicknames like a coward who is lazy to type xD **

**Are you sure that Vasilescu has something fishy going on? Areee you suuuuure? :3 Hehehehe~**

**I think Sherwood needs more than just a hug ;)**

**Henria: Yeah, different POVs also give you some more of the 'other side' with characterization. Who likes your character, who doesn't, gives the readers more information and all that :D I'm just always worrying about Fred and George, because they are really present in the books, and people have expectations about how they should be in writing xD **

**They needed some silliness in their year :) It was getting to serious at one point :P McGonagall is a person to rise to the occasion, she seems to have them under control in later years, no?**

**Hope you enjoyed :D**


	20. Chapter 20

**Le gasp! Welcome ladies and gents! I aim to surprise!**

**Anyways, I've been on the down lately, kind of lost inspiration and was a tad depressed during my exams. I've been obsessively watching Criminal Minds (because I adore Reid) and the show makes me very happy xD**

**Anyways, let me give thanks to:**

**Meganlovesdinos, Blackraven777, cheshirekadi, God of Gods, Nandarin, taytay4282, Cardinala, illowKP , Summers1 and SymphonieFantastique for the favs!**

**AppoloniaAstria, Cheshirekadi, taytay4282 and SymphonieFantastique for the alerts!**

**Maiannaise, Malfoy Twin, Henria and SymphonieFantastique, thank you so much for the reviews!**

**Enjoy!**

**Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (1983)**

_Dear Pa, _

_I miss you. I know, it's crazy, but I really do. I know that I will see you in a bit and that Easter is just around the corner, but I really do miss you._

_You never doubted me, and these days, I feel like I doubt myself more than I should. I know that you always say that If I can imagine it, it's possible, but I'm not so sure anymore. Maybe Angelina is right, and I have read one too many horror books. You have always been worried about those, as well._

_I feel like I'm seeing a pattern, when there might be none. Maybe I've gone crazy? Maybe the anonymity of being just one of the students may be getting to me?_

_Can you tell me what to do? I don't know what's real anymore. I'm afraid to talk to Alicia about it. Angelina freaked, but now, she acts as if it never happened. I don't know what to do anymore. I wish I'd never-_

Jack moved her quill away from the parchment. She crumpled the unfinished letter and threw it into the fire next to the others. It crackled in the flames as she watched it burn. Her eyes stung. She rubbed at them, willing herself not to cry. She couldn't solve anything by crying.

Besides, sending this kind of a letter to Dragon could cause two things. First, he would completely freak out and fly to Hogwarts on his broom and get her. And, the second option (which Jack preferred), was that her father would become his wise persona and give her great advice. He wasn't often that person. Most of the time, he was his awkward, goofy, childish self, trying to make her smile, saying that Jack was too serious.

The small witch pushed her hair back, trying to get it behind her ears. Her bangs were getting long. They were too short to put behind her ears and kept falling into her eyes. Jack needed another haircut. Or, maybe some hairclips. A headband, perhaps? Sighing, the witch pushed away the encyclopedia from her lap, careful not to upset all the extra pages that she had written and placed inside. She was still trying to pile up all of her dragon knowledge into one book. However, Jack had noticed her obsession getting worse.

It had been days since she had read something about dragons. It had been weeks since she had picked up one of her favorite books to read. It had been quite a while since she had written out the dates and years of the most interesting wizarding wars in her notebook.

Jack had a new obsession these days. She was figuring out any possible way to connect the 'clues' from her mind. She had talked to Dorothea and Mary a number of times, trying to get as much information about their short and unexpected vacations. The Ravenclaw seemed pretty annoyed with her, but she never said anything. The petite witch was too polite to do something like that.

Mary, on the other hand, had found a perfect way to avoid Jack. She spent as much time as she could with Sarah Millard, the she-devil. Jack didn't know how the shy Gryffindor (or why) had she forgiven her 'friend' for all the cruelty and the rumors that the Gossip Queen had bombarded her with. Jack knew that she wouldn't be able to do something like that. Then again, Jack was well aware of the fact that she was no saint. No matter how hard she tried to be fair or neutral before getting to know people, she often succumbed to stereotypes. And, the thing that Jack really hated about herself, she didn't forget easily. In fact, she didn't forgive easily, either. Once the argument made sense to her, she wasn't able to just let go, no matter how much she pretended that she had.

She could still hear Angelina's words in her head. The moment when Jack was left alone to her thoughts, her friend's false assumptions rang out, like a storm. Sure, Jack knew that Angelina didn't mean it. She had accepted the apology. She had tried to forget. And, when she was in class, focused, or with her friends, talking, she could. The words that had escaped her friend in anger were just that, words. But, they haunted her. Almost like her, increasingly crazy-seeming, connecting of the dots was.

Jack emptied her mind forcefully by taking up her Charms book. She grabbed a piece of parchment and dunked her quill back into her ink. She could feel her legs cramping up and unfolded them from her Indian-style position on the floor. The characters in Disney movies made this seem so comfortable, Jack smiled. Her mind began to wander back to her unhealthy obsession and Angelina's words that seemed to fuel her new goal of spending a full week in the library.

The small witch shook her head, opening her book to the Softening Charm. She forced herself to read the paragraph and start her essay.

The letter for Dragon would have to wait.

X

"Alright, mate?" Lee's voice brought Fred back to reality.

"Mhm." The redhead replied, rubbing his eyes quickly. The broom was a welcome weight in his hand. The cold wood was nicely polished. However, he could still feel the places where the old thing had been damaged and where the coating had chipped off before someone (quite probably Madam Hooch) had polished over it.

"Well, you don't look too good." The black boy was persistent. He was beginning to notice differences between the twins more and more. What worried him was that he had begun to refer to Fred as the tired looking twin. George was more on the quiet side, leaving his brother to propose new mischievous things to do and then following through. But, despite the fact that Lee could tell Fred and George apart from time to time when they were together, the constant yawning of one brother had begun to tell him who was who. "You could always skip Flying?" Lee suggested as Fred rubbed his eyes once more. George was no-where to be found, which was becoming more and more normal. "Not like you need it anyways…"

The twin laughed to this. "I can't help it, mate! You try having Bill and Charlie as your older brothers and not learning how to fly." The redhead boasted. Well, he had the skills to back his words up, as with most things. Lee had quickly learned that every single insane thing that left Fred's mouth had a dangerously high probability of becoming reality. It scared him more than often. But, it also provided the thrill of getting into trouble, which the twins seemed to feed on as well.

"I'm envious." Replied Lee. "I've only got cousins. And, most of them that are my age are girls!" The boy complained.

"Look on the bright side, mate." The redhead fired back.

"We'll soon be spending summers at your place." George had arrived with a smug grin. He had obviously been listening to their conversation for a while. Lee laughed uncomfortably.

"Only if you bring girls that are not related to me as well." He decided. There was no helping it. The twins had already invited themselves over to his place for Easter, and his parents had been more than ecstatic. Lee was from one of those families whose parents worried about their weird kid making friends. Luckily, the word of his best mates being bigger troublemakers than himself still hadn't reached their ears. He would have to attempt to keep the twins in check.

"Gladly." The redheads chorused.

"Hey, who do you think will win next month?" Lee suddenly asked, seeing Oliver Wood on his way to class. Their Quidditch obsessed senior had a brisk walk, and looked quite pissed. That probably had something to do with the fact that they had barely won against Hufflepuff last month, leading with only 20 points.

"Hopefully, not Slytherin." Replied George, munching on his Fudge Flies like nobody's business. Lee reached over, taking a couple from the twin. The redhead gave a disgruntled snort, but it was ignored as his brother also took some sweets from him.

"If those slimy gits win, I think Oliver might pop a vein." Laughed Fred. George joined in.

"I love how Charlie is cool about it." Lee said, grabbing more Flies from George. The twin hastily hid the bag into his robes, making sure that Madam Hooch didn't see them.

"Oh, don't be fooled." Fred grinned. "He's pissed, alright."

"Oh?" Lee asked. It didn't seem that way. The older Weasley was all smiles and good attitude, even towards the Slytherins. Lee sometimes didn't understand how the prefect was even related to the twins. Then again, Percy, their middle brother, was even odder. A true bookworm, that one. A sucker for the rules. Lee could practically see the pain that he was going to be if he ever became a prefect.

"Yeah. He just doesn't show it much." George agreed.

Fred was nodding along. "He's got two passions now."

"Oh?" Lee asked.

"Quidditch-" Fred counted on his fingers.

"-and dragons." Supplied George, counting off his own fingers.

"I imagine he has no time for a girlfriend, then." Lee laughed.

"O-ho-ho-ho!" Fred laughed. "You have got no idea!"

"He's in love with the bloody fire spitting cockroach that Knight got him for Christmas." His twin supplied as they reached the rest of their classmates. Lee made a disgusted face.

"Attention class!" Madam Hooch called. "We will continue where we left off last time!" The Professor mounted her broom and hovered a few feet off the ground. "Mount your brooms!" She instructed.

Fred mounted his broom and pushed off easily. The rush of wind and sudden and brief moment of weightlessness brought him comfort. It was familiar and quite soothing. His head had been pounding for days now. Flying seemed to lessen the dull ache that wouldn't let him sleep. However, Fred was a Weasley through and through. A little less sleep than usual (he loved to sleep in, just like his brothers) didn't stop his more devious side from showing its face.

The redhead leaned towards his brother and their best friend. "How many Slytherins can you seriously injure with a Quaffle?" He joked with a wicked grin, a little dejected that they couldn't play with Bludgers. The one experience with a rogue ball that Bill had bought somewhere was still fresh in his mind.

"No idea, mate." His brother replied.

"But-" Lee began, now grinning as well. "-we can see how many we can knock off their brooms?"

"I bet a galleon on George getting the most hits." A new voice said, causing the boys to whip around. Sure enough, there was Alicia Spinnet with a wicked grin to match the twins. Lee smiled goofily at her. From time to time, she surprised them with her bout of rebelliousness. "That is, if Angelina isn't participating." The girl concluded and brought her broom around, heading for her dark hair friend.

"So, it's a galleon bet?" George asked, suddenly smug. Lee sighed. He could see his order of chocolate frogs going down to single digits. Fred grinned.

"You're on."

X

_Captain,_

_I know that you're busy, and I'm sorry for bugging you, but I need some advice and I can't really write to Pa because he would most likely freak out._

_I'm not sure how to explain the situation. I seem to have found a new obsession. No, not like the dragons, I still love my flying reptiles. But, I think that I see a pattern in something that is happening in the castle. I know that Hogwarts is safe. Everyone keeps telling me that. But, I keep seeing the pattern repeat itself over and over again. And this time, I think it's happening to me._

_Do you remember the time that we had pixies in that flat in Ukraine? I saw the signs before any of you guys figured it out. But, you believed me as soon as I told you about it. This time, no one believes me. They think that I'm being paranoid._

_I sometimes think I'm being paranoid._

_Just look at this letter. My thoughts have been all over the place. I'm not sure if I should stay true to my gut feeling at the risk of losing my friends?_

_I'm scared. And not of the object of this new obsession of mine. I'm scared of what it might do to my current lifestyle at Hogwarts._

_Please don't worry too much (and I know you will), and don't tell Pa about this._

_I miss you and can't wait to see you for Easter!_

_All my love,_

_Jack_

Jack lowered her quill, finally finishing her letter. She closed her eyes, sighing. She could feel her head pounding. She hadn't been sleeping well. Since that dream in the Hospital Wing, more had followed. Liquid black smoke seemed to follow her everywhere. It haunted her in her dorm, in the Study Hall and in the library. She couldn't escape it. Jack wasn't keeping count on how many times she had broken a window and jumped out of it in her dreams. The good thing was, it still worked. The jump still woke her up from her nightmares.

Rubbing her eyes, she sighed and packed up her affects. Jack took her father's old worn-out bag and headed to check out her books. She had managed to get back into Madam Pince's good graces during the last month and a half. Though, that also meant that Jack was enabled to continue with her obsession. By now, she had gotten through most of the books in the Fae and Spectre area. Which was saying something. That meant two whole shelves of books on different fairies and ghosts and ghouls. Mostly, none of it helped her. She couldn't connect all the dots in one creature. Jack was beginning to think that it was a spell or a curse.

The librarian checked out her books in silence, not looking at her. She seemed preoccupied with letters. Jack pushed her hair back as she exited the room saying a soft 'goodnight' to Madam Pince. She could already see Angelina's disapproving glare and Alicia's curious one. The Quidditch lover knew that Jack hadn't given up on her ideas. Alicia still didn't know anything and she wanted to keep it that way. She could handle Angelina giving her the evil eye from time to time. But, she couldn't handle both of her friends being distant.

And then, the silence. Jack froze, realizing what that meant. She couldn't move. She held her breath, waiting. She was waiting for it. Nothing. Silence. Pure, black, silence.

Screeeeeeeech. Scraaaaaaaatch. Squeeeeeeeak.

Jack felt her blood freeze. She had thought that after all the dreams she would be able to deal with it. She had thought that all those jumps out the window would have made her braver. But, the eerie screech still froze the very sinew in her body.

She ran.

Jack felt her legs burn and her head pound as she forced herself to keep running. Her breath came in small puffs as she hurried through a well-known hidden passage behind the tapestry. The old leather strap of her bag was digging into her shoulder uncomfortably as it dragged against the stone wall. Her mind thanked every saint that she knew of (muggle or not) that she had left Angelina's pouch in the dorm. Another loud scratch sounded behind her. It was coming. It was coming for her.

Her scream died in her throat as she practically flew out the passage crashing into someone. Arms grabbed her, but her books spilled all over the floor.

"Jaqueline." A familiar deep voice said. Looking up, Jack saw the icy eyes of her former friend, Dmitry. He furrowed his eyebrows, not letting go of her. Suddenly, he didn't seem as distant as he usually was in Potions. "What is the matter?"

Jack looked down to realize what he meant. She was panting, her wild (and way too long) bangs sticking to her damp forehead. It had seemed like hours that she had ran, and in fact, it had been less that a minute. The books about Fae (All You Need to Know About Aos Sí, Classification of Fairies: Vol. I The Seelie Court, Classification of Fairies: Vol. II The Unseelie Court by Alden P. Gilbert) were spilled in front of her all over the floor. Dmitry followed her gaze down to them.

"You have become interested in a new species?" He asked, sounding surprised. He finally let her go and bent down, picking up one of the tomes. "Fairies? This is quite a tame group, considering that you were a rather passionate dragon enthusiast the last time I talked to you."

Jack snapped, her heart finally slowing down a tad. "Well, that would've been quite a while back." She deadpanned and tore the book from his hands. The small witch quickly dropped to the floor and packed, looking back to the passage and listening carefully. The silence was deafening, but no screeching came. It seemed that the danger was gone.

Jack stood once more to see Dmitry looking at her. Even after her outburst, his eyes weren't cold or cruel. They never had been. He stood still, like he was waiting for something. Jack bit her lip to stop any words from escaping her.

"You are correct." The wizard told her. "It is not appropriate for me to speak to you." Jack felt her nose crinkle and her temper boil. It was the icy kind of rage that the Weasley twins usually brought out in her. It was the kind of anger that she felt when someone spilled oil on the table. Or when Dragon left his socks on the countertop. And not the clean ones.

"Not appropri-" She began to growl back at him when it rang out once more. A loud screech sounded through the hallway. Dmitry stood up straighter and stiffened. He took out his wand in a quick and smooth movement. Jack felt like bashing her head against the wall. How in the world had she never reacted like this? Why in the world had she ran? Running in horror books and movies always got you killed!

As another piercing scratch sounded the wizard moved in font of Jack, causing her to frown in anger and pull out her own wand. Her bag made a noise as she dropped it onto the floor for the second time that day, pissed that he thought she needed protection. The Russian gave the small witch a glance, as if asking about the noise, but she was too tired and too angry to think coherently. The only things going through her mind were spells. Destructive spells.

The next screech seemed to ring right there, in the narrow passage. Dmitry's hand flew out in front of Jack, pushing her back. She wouldn't budge. She could tell that it annoyed him, and felt a small spark of sinister joy spread through her being. She hoped that he, too, could feel the burning ice-fire that she was feeling. Because she hated it. She hated every second of feeling like this. Feeling sad, scared, angry or jealous. She despised it. And with that, she despised herself, because she had never hated before.

Silence.

Something slammed against the window to their left, causing Jack to jump up and grab Dmitry's extended hand in a vice grip. He whipped around, his wand still pointed at the passage. He threw her a glance to see fear on her face, but also anger and determination.

"Open it." The Slytherin ordered, not moving his wand from the passage. Jack had hers ready on the window.

"What?!" She whisper-yelled at him, staring him down and almost forgetting about the situation that they were in.

"_Open_ the _window_." The Russian emphasized, dividing his words slowly. Jack dug her short nails into his hand. He winced.

"I'm not stupid, stupid." She replied. "Don't order me around. It's not _appropriate_." The girl mocked him. Dmitry groaned, his wand still trained on the passage.

"This is really not the time, Jaqueline. Just open the window!" The wizard retorted. "You're closer and your wand is already pointed there." Jack could see his logic. She really could. But, she didn't care. She was too mad. Her icy rage had gone boiling red.

"Well, trade me then." And the girl let go of his hand, stepping forwards towards the passage and pointing her wand there. "And, it's Jack." She could hear the Russian sigh behind her (annoyance or anger, she couldn't tell). But, he walked towards the last source of the noise. Jack heard the latch and then felt the cool night air hit her back.

Silence.

"I believe that it was merely a bird." The Slytherin told her, closing the window. Jack chanced a glance to see him calmly putting his wand back into his robes. The cold feeling of dread and pain in her stomach dropped like a ton, making her feel actual, physical pain. Jack felt the arm that was holding her wand drop to her side, limp. She watched Dmitry pick up her bag and walk towards her calmly. He extended it towards her.

"Shall I walk you to your common room?" He politely asked. Jack snatched her bag out of his hands.

"Don't bother." She spat at him. "It wouldn't be appropriate, now, would it?" With those words, she left the boy in the corridor, her wand not finding its way to the inside of her robes until she reached the common room.

X

"Alright." Alicia plopped down beside Angelina on the latter's bed. The Quidditch lover gave her friend a confused look. She dragged her brush once more through her thick, dark hair and waited for Alicia to clarify her exclamation. She was used to her friend's perky attitude and general eccentric ways by now. "Well, out with it!" The witch exclaimed.

"Out with what?" Angelina replied, continuing to comb her damp hair. She was almost ready for bed. Alicia frowned. Sure, she knew that sometimes she shouldn't ask questions. She knew that she didn't have to solve everything and that her friends should have their fair share of fights, but this was getting ridiculous. The last time, Alicia had sided more with Angelina, because she had been in the middle of the argument, as well. But, this time, it was plainly ridiculous.

"You and Jack." The shorter of the two said, grabbing Angelina's brush to gain her full attention. The other witch shrugged, reaching for the item once more. She had learned quite a while back that if she didn't brush and braid her hair properly before bed, it would magically become a bird's nest during the night.

"Alicia." The dark skinned girl warned. "I need to finish my hair." She dejectedly said, sounding a bit too deflated for Alicia's liking.

But, Jack and Angelina weren't the only two stubborn Gryffindors in that dorm. "No." Alicia was adamant. "Tell me what you two are going on about. I can see that something is wrong." The girl lowered the brush on her friend's lap, knowing that it wasn't important anymore. Angelina sighed.

Alicia was usually the peppy and cheerful one. She often suggested things that they should do, but didn't push them much. It was Angelina that was the leader of their group. The Quidditch lover already had a bossy air of 'don't mess with me or you'll regret it' around her, so, being headstrong was a given for her. Jack was mostly curious about everything, hence, 'no' was a rare word for the girl. She tended to simply wander away if she didn't want to participate. In Alicia's opinion, their short friend was a bit too comfortable being on her own.

"She's being stubborn about something stupid." The dark skinned girl finally admitted. Alicia narrowed her eyes, waiting. "Alright! Merlin! You're worse that Jack _or_ me!" They briefly laughed at the jab before Angelina continued. "A few weeks back, she told me about something that she thinks she has noticed at our school, which was completely ridiculous, so I told her that it was. But, she was, as Jack usually is, quite stubborn about it." Alicia raised an eyebrow. She had a feeling that it wasn't just Jack's fault that they were in this silent fight. "I might have called her out on it." The witch concluded, going quiet.

Alicia took the brush back and made Angelina turn around. She began brushing the long, thick hair. "How bad is it?" The girl asked.

"Bad." Angelina replied in a whisper. "I said some things that I didn't mean and I don't think that she's letting it go." Alicia didn't say anything for a few moments. The two sat in the warm room with the only sounds being the crackling fire and the brush going through Angelina's hair.

"I'm worried about Jack." The first year finally spoke. "Regardless of your spat, she's been acting strange." Alicia put the brush away and combed her fingers once through her friend's hair before she began braiding it.

"She's snapped at me one too many times." Angelina chuckled. The other witch lightly hit her arm.

"That isn't funny. Stop pushing her."

Angelina tried to stifle her laughter, so she wouldn't wake up their dorm-mates. "But she needs to grow a pair." The girl replied as her friend headed for her own bed.

"Oh, she has a pair."

"But, she doesn't show them often." The two girls chuckled, trying to forget their mutual worry for their friend.

"Oh, shut it, you two!" Elizabeth, the prettier half of the Gossiping Duo, remarked from behind her bed.

"Sod off." Angelina closed the argument, blowing her lantern out. She closed her draperies, ignoring Alicia's amused grin. The dark haired girl lay in her bed for at least an hour before she heard the door quietly open. Someone snuck across the room and began rummaging about in the dark. She could hear Jack's voice muttering things about 'silly fairies' and 'stupid smoke'. Their last roommate had arrived.

Angelina frowned as she listened to the girl talk to herself as she got ready for bed. Their friend had been spending late nights at the library the last week or so. But, like clockwork, the small witch was always gone in the morning, watching the dawn from the Owlery. To be honest, Angelina had been furious at first. Jack had continued on with her insane ideas and paranoid horror-filled mind despite her friend's warning. At least she kept the, more that slightly terrifying, thoughts from Alicia.

Angelina heard Jack's bed creak annoyingly as the girl climbed into it. The small witch let out a sigh, rolling to her left and getting comfortable. After a few moments, Jack spoke.

"You awake?"

"Yeah." Angelina whispered back.

"I'm sorry for being such a daft cow."

"It's alright." Angelina smiled to herself. "I'll remember it for later." She heard Jack chuckle.

"'Night." The short witch whispered, despite that both of them knew that it was the last thing that she wanted to say. Angelina's tired mind decided that she liked this, despite the tension, so decided to leave the problem buried.

"Sweet dreams."

**That's all folks!**

**So, I have a question for all you out there? Where can one get Fudge Flies?**

**So, the books that Jack checks out are of my own creating. Some of the characteristics of different creatures will not be based on the J.K Rowling's work, sorry, because I've already read one too many stories about mythical creatures from both the European and Asian regions, so I will be using those.**

**I want to first apologize to Sophie, our guest, whose review I totally missed because it didn't come out on the site before I posted. Hence, thank you for reviewing and I hope that you are still enjoying the story (I know that I'm often a terribly slow writer). I'm trying to keep things original and use as much free space as I can which Rowling left. I hope to hear from you soon!**

**Maiannaise: I know! So annoying sometimes xD**

**Malfoy Twin: Jack is slowly growing a pair :P She's leaving her father's and the Bats' protection and learning to fend for herself. She loves dragons so much and admires them, hence, she compares herself to them often.**

**Vasilescu is a mystery.. We will see what happens :D Aras is just a little grumpy sweetheart! I love putting his comments left and right :)**

**You shall see about the sound, my friend, you shall see :D Currently, I'm using quite a few folk tales from different regions as sources. Also, I was quite inspired by a remake of an old book :) I'm trying to not clash with Rowling's work while using my own ideas.**

**Good catch about the Skrewts! I was going down the list and completely forgot about that xD Will change it :D**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Henria: Thank you so much! I know that you have been with the story since the start, and I'm pretty sure that my slow writing gets to you and Emma the most xD I love reading about the Weasleys, so, I'll be working on getting them towards their third year personas slowly.**

**McGonagall is definitely one of my favorite characters :) She is so epic later in the books! I feel like the movies don't do her justice, but Maggie is amazing at portraying her :D The moment when she tells Peeves how to unscrew the chandelier is hilarious xD **

**Angelina and Jack are going to have their differences… I realized that my vision of the two is a bit too similar.. They are both headstrong to let things go :P But, the two are friends, despite the rough patches :)**

**Yeah, I hate rumors… I know I used to cry more than a little because of words, and I can relate to Jack in that way… We both have a tendency to overthink things. And I think that she had begun to deal with feelings that she isn't used to. Dragon has kept her shielded from the world, despite seeming careless. Jack hasn't really felt negative feelings, like hate and rage, so she is irritated about that.**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**SymphonieFantastique: Thank you for the lovely review! It pushed me to write out the rest of the chapter :) I hope you enjoyed it!**

**I'm looking forward to the romance as well, I don't doubt that Jack and Fred aren't going to make it easy… I'm enjoying exploring the characters so far, both the OCs and Rowling's :D**


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